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ABOUT 



THE 



SOUTH 



FOR THE 

INFORMATION OF ^ 

Home Seekers 



A.NI> 



INVESTORS 



1 



ABOUT THE SOUTH 



ON LINES OF THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL AND 
YAZOO & MISSISSIPPI VALLEY RAILROADS. 



IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TERSELY ANSWERED 

FOR THE INFORMATION OF 

HOME SEEKEKS AND INVESTOES. 






issued by the 

Passenger Department, 

ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD COMPANY, 

1904. 



JAN 10 1905 
D.ofO, 



INDEX. 

Page 

Introductory, - - - 4 

Southern Farm Lands, - - - 7 

Mississippi Valley Cotton Lands, 9 

Truck Farming in the South, 12 

Fruit Growing in the South, 15 

Stock Raising in the South, 18 

Dairying in the South, 23 

Grasses and Forage Plants, .---..- 28 

Soils of Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana, - 35 

Market Facilities, . . . 29 

Southern Immigration, 43 

Letters from Northern Farmers, 47 

Illinois Central Representatives, 63 



INTRODUCTORY. 



The Passenger Department of the Illinois Central Railroad Company has within 
the past eigliteen months published and distributed throughout the United States 
eleven circulars upon as many different topics relating to the question of agriculture 
in the States of Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana. These special 
topics are found on pages of this pamphlet as noted in the index, and are as follows: 
"Southern Farm Lands," "Mississippi Valley Cotton Lands," "Truck Farming in 
the South," "Fruit Growing in the South," "Stock Raising in the South," "Dairying 
in the South," "Grasses and Forage Plants," "Soils of Kentucky, Tennessee and 
Mississippi," "Market Facilities," "Southern Immigration," and "Letters from 
Northern Farmers." Since the publication of these circulars, 400,000 have been 
distributed in the Eastern, Northern and Western States. 

The development of the agricultural conditions of the four Southern States 
referred to, has, in some respects, been phenomenal. The advance in the price of 
cotton has made the growing of this product very profitable upon the alluvial lands 
of the States mentioned. Since the circular on "Dairying in the South" was issued 
(December 15, 1902), the shipping of milk from points on the line of the Illinois 
Central Railroad in Northern Louisiana to the city of New Orleans has developed 
into a paying and important industry. Truck farmers realize that not only is the 
producing of milk, for which they get fifteen cents net per gallon, profitable, but it 
reduces the fertilizer account to the minimum, at the same time enriching the soil of 
the farm. A city ordinance of New Orleans provides that within three years all 
dairies must be moved outside, and thereafter none can be established inside the city 
limits. This should, and we believe will, quadruple the shipment of milk from 
Illinois Central points to the New Orleans market. 

A reference to some of the letters from Northern farmers now located in the 
South, which will be found on the last pages of tliis pamphlet, will convince the most 
skeptical tliat nowhere in the United States is there a section of country so adapted 
to profitable truck farming as that on and adjacent to the Illinois Central Railroad in 
the States of Louisiana and Mississippi, and for the following reasons: First, on 
account of the season of the year, which is late wittier or early spring, when such 
products are ready for market; second, the adaptability of the soil to the growth of 

4 



vegetables and strawberries, when proper fertilizer is freely used; third, the excellent 
equipment and facilities afforded by the Illinois Central Railroad Company for quick 
and safe transportation to all northern markets. Men who have thoroughly and 
scientifically investigated the subject unhesitatingly declare that better results are 
obtained and more net money made per acre from trucking in the territory mentioned 
than in any other part of the United States. Coupled with this is the fact that in no 
part of the country is there found better water than from the numerous artesian wells, 
and certainly no one will contend that there is a more healthy, happy and contented 
people and a better class of citizens than is found in that territory. 

The rapid developments of Central, Eastern and Northern Mississippi and 
Tennessee in the matter of diversified farming has been as marked as that cf truck 
farming farther south. Indeed, farming in the South by northern people is no longer 
an expe-riment. The long southern summers are preferred to long northern winters. 
The expense of living in the South is much less than in the North. 

Lands in the South that will produce abundant crops are still in the market at low 
prices, but it is fair to say they are steadily advancing, and recent developments in 
that territory warrant the conclusion that values will greatly appreciate within the 
next few years. 

The construction of the Panama Canal, now practically assured, will make New 
Orleans the natural gateway for the people and products of the Mississippi Valley to 
the Orient and all far-away markets of the East. Already the Crescent City is feeling 
the benefit it will derive from such commercial advantages, and every line of business 
in that city has been greatly stimulated. Memphis is another southern industrial 
center which enjoys the distinction of being second only to New Orleans in the mag- 
nitude of its trade and the variety of manufactured products. 

In view of these recent developments we feel fully justified in the statement that 
nowhere in the United States are the opportunities for land investments better, or the 
prospects for establishing prosperous and happy homes greater than at points on the 
line of the Illinois Central and Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroads in the States of 
Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana. 



SOUTHERN FARM LANDS. 



Never in the history of the United States has there been such an active demand 
for farm lands tliroughout the entire Northwest, nor such a phenomenal advance 
in prices as during the past three years. In Illinois the advance has been from 
$90 to $150 an acre; in Iowa from $35 to $75 and even higher; in Minnesota from 
$15 to $50, and in South Dakota from $2.50 to $30. Real estate prophets and others 
have each year predicted that the top has been reached, and that prices must decline. 
Such, however, has not been the case. On the contrary, not only practical farmers, 
but bankers, mechanics, merchants and manufacturers, having idle money, have 
shown their confidence in the future of cultivable lands by making liberal land 
investments, and the prices have continued to go higher and higher. 

The question now agitating the minds of all real estate agents (through whom 
90 per cent of all the farm lands are sold) is, where can we find low priced real 
estate, and where will be the next great advance in lands? The object of this 
circular is to advise all real estate agents and others who handle farm lands, that 
every indication now 
points to the SOUTH 
as the center of the 
next great boom, and 
our reasons for think- 
ing so are based upon 
the following facts : 

SOUTHERN FARM LANDS ARE 
LOW AS COMPARED WITH 
THE VALUE OF SOUTH- 
ERN FARM PROD- 
UCTS. 

First. Southern farm 
lands are too low, as 
compared with the mar- 
ket value of Southern 
farm products. To il- 
lustrate: In Iowa, lands 
selling in the imarket 
for $60 to $75 an acre, 
are rented for only $3 
per acre. In Mississippi, 
and especially in the 
greati cotton belt, the 
Mississippi Valley, im- 
proved plantations can 
be bought at from $30 
to $35 pe|r acre, and 
readily rented for $6 
and even $7 per acre, 
cash, or, what is better 
at the present high 
price of cotton, for 100 
pounds of lint cotton 
per acre; and upon 




A Corn Field in the Yazoo Valley. 
Second Year after Deadening Trees. 



which the taxes are not more than half what they are 

7 



in Iowa or Illinois. 



Information for Home Seekers and Investors 



An Increased Demand and Increased Local Markets for all Southern 

Products. 

Second. All indica- 
lions point to an in- 
creased demand and in- 
creased local markets 
for all kinds of South- 
ern farm products. The 
development of South- 
ern oil fields furnishing 
cheap fuel is attracting 
the attention of manu- 
facturers everywhere, 
and new and important 
industries are springing 
up at many points along 
the line of the Illinois 
Central and the Yazoo 
& Mississippi Valley 
railroads. Already these 
industries are creating 
a demand for all kinds 
of lumber used in the 
manufacture of furni- 
ture, caskets, vehicles and farm implements. Cotton and all its by-products, 
the raw material of the South that for years has gone begging, are now in demand 
at greatly advanced prices, and with this comes a natural demand, at higher prices, 
for everything grown upon the farm. 

The Cities of the South are Increasing in Population at a Rapid Rate. 




A stock Farm in the Yazoo Valley. 



Third. The cities of the South are, with the introduction of new industries, 
increasing in population at a rapid rate. Every branch of business is prosperous, 
and hence there is an increased demand for every kind of garden truck and fruits 
grown upon the farm. Under such conditions there can be but one result : 
Southern farm lands must, and zvill, advance. 

Immigration and a Rapid Advance in the Prices of Farm Lands. 

Fourth. The construction of an interoceanic canal, whether at Panama or 
Nicaragua, will make New Orleans the gateway to important new markets that use 
largely the mining, manufacturing and agricultural products of the South. It will 
be the means of calling the attention of thousands of tourists and capitalists to the 
fertile lands of the Mississippi Valley. It will result in large investments of North- 
ern capital, which are invariably followed by immigration and a rapid advance in 
the price of farm lands. 

Best Quality of Timber Lands are Yet on the Market. 

Fifth. Unimproved hardwood timber lands of the best quality are yet on the 
market at points in Mississippi, between Memphis and Vicksburg, at from $7 to 
$10 per acre. The cost of clearing and fencing these lands is not to exceed $10 
per acre, and when cleared, they will grow a bale of cotton worth from $40 to $50 
per bale, or 60 bushels of corn to the acre worth 60 cents to $1 per bushel. Every 



Information for Home Seekers and iNVESxoRi 9 

real estate agent who- has studied the agricultural conditions of this contry under- 
stands how, with the rapid increase in population, making a constantly increased 
demand for every thing eatable, it is utterly impossible for fertile lands to remain 
at present values in any section of our country. North or South. 

New Orleans With Her Local Export Market Facilities is a Factor 
IN THE Development of Farm Lands. 

The new industrial and commercial conditions that obtain at New Orleans — 
the recognized metropolis of the South — are a source of wonder and surprise to 
those who remember the Crescent City as it has been for a half century prior to 
igoo. Throughout the city is now heard the hum of new industries, and instead 
of being a sleepy and quaint old southern city, it is fast coming to the front as a 
city of commercial activity, with prospects for the future not excelled by any city 
in the United States ; and the growth and development of this city, and her loca' 
and export market facilities, must necessarily increase the price of all farm lands 
tributary thereto. 

The Passenger De- 
partment of the Illinois 
Central Railway Com- 
pany is interested in the 
development of all the 
cities on, and the coun- 
try tributary to, its 
lines. It is interested 
in having the real estate 
agents on its lines suc- 
cessful, and would urge 
that they at once turn 
their attention to the 
South, as affording un- 
usual opportunities for 
making money during 
the next five or more 
years. We confidently 
believe that the lands to 
which we have referred will, in the near future, advance in value from $5 to $10 
per acre. We, therefore, urge that all who are engaged exclusively in the sale of 
real estate shall investigate thoroughly the lands on and tributary to the Company's 
lines, in the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana. We want 
you interested with us in the development of this country, and will be glad to cor- 
respond with you in reference to the same; and, if mutually agreeable, to make the 
usual advertising contracts with all agents who will devote their time and energy to 
the sale of Southern farm lands. 




North Dakota Family Located in the South. 



MISSISSIPPI VALLEY COTTON LANDS. 

The circular recently issued by the Passenger Department of the Illinois Central 
Railroad Company, known as "Southern Farm Lands," has awakened a general 
interest in the subject of cotton growing in the Mississippi Delta, as compared with 
grain and stock raising in the Northern States ; and as a reply to the many letters 
of inquiry, we publish the following, which, in a general way, answers a few of the 
questions. 

Question No. i. Will you please explain hozu it is possible, as stated in your 
circular, for improved cotton lands in the Mississippi Valley to rent for $6 and $/ 
per acre, ivhich can he purchased for from $30 to $35 per acre? 



Information for Home Seekers and Investors 



We confess, it is hard to explain. But, after all, it is a condition, not a theory; 
and one that could not obtain anywhere except in the South, where the tenants do 
not seem interested in owning farms. Tenants throughout the Northwest expect, 
in time, to have farms of their own, and they will not pay such rentals as will 
simply afford them a living. They expect to save a few hundred dollars every 
year, with which, in the course of seven to ten years, they can buy a farm of their 
own. Not so with the colored tenants of the South. They literally believe that 
"sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof," and they do not expect more than a 
living, and apparently are happy in the thought that they are sure of enough to 
eat and a place to sleep. Hence they are willing to pay such rentals as the land 
lord may exact, providing they are reasonably sure of a very moderate living. 

Question No. 2. Is there ever any scarcity of tenants in the Mississippi Valleys' 
We do not reinember of having seen, or even heard of a cotton plantation not 
being worked for want of a tenant. The fact that these fertile lands in the Valley 
produce from three-fourths of a bale to a bale of cotton per acre, without an ounce 
of fertilizer, while in the older cotton producing sections, with expensive fertiliza- 
tion, only one-fourth to one-Jialf a bale is expected, has driven many of the colored 
cotton growers to the Mississippi Valley, and, as a rule, there are a dozen tenants 
for every plantation wherever the soil is sufficiently fertile to grow such cotton as is 
grown in the Mississippi Valley between Memphis and Vicksburg. 

Question No. 3. Hozv does the expense of maintaining a cotton plantation 
compare zvifh that of an Illinois or lozva farm? 

The cost of maintenance is decidedly in favor of the cotton plantation. To 
illustrate, a Nortliern farm of say five hundred acres, will have from $4,000 to 
$7,000 invested in buildings. These buildings are constantly in need of repairs. 
They must be painted every three to five years, which is of itself quite an expense. 
New barbed wire fences aie necessary every year. Meadows and pastures must be 
reseeded. Indeed, the expense of maintaining a No. i Northern farm is one that 
only those can appreciate who have had the experience. Now contrast the differ- 
ence between such a farm and a Southern plantation of the same size. The planta- 
tion would have, perhaps, twenty negro cabins, made of rough boards, and a shed 
for stock, machinery, tools, etc., the entire cost of which would not exceed $2,500. 
And the cost of maintenance would not exceed $25 annually, even if the cabins were 
whitewashed, as is sometimes the case. If new fencing is necessary, a few hours' 
work will provide posts and rails from the timber which grows on every plantation. 
Question No. 4. Is the rent collectible, and are the colored cotton grozvers 

reliable and responsi- 
ble f 

Colored men, like 
other tenants, are not 
all alike — some are 
good, some very good, 
some bad, some very 
bad. The laws of Mis- 
sissippi, however, so 
favor the landlord 
that it is a rare thing 
for a tenant on a cot- 
ton farm to escape 
paying his rent, and it 
is also fair to say that 
it is unusual to find 
one who is disposed to 
do so. They expect 
West Tennessee Orchard and Crop of Cow Peas. to grow cotton next 




Information for Home Seekers and Investors 



•iaaito^gite^j-' -- ■# kfc; ■-'i^- 


^^^:^i^^iii 











Scene at a Louisiana Truck Farm. 



year, and the year 
after. They under- 
stand if they run short 
of cornmeal and bacon, 
that the landlord will 
help them out until 
the next crop is mar- 
keted. Hence a de- 
sire on the part of the 
tenant to live up to his 
contract. 

Question No. 5. D'l 
you advise Northern 
farmers to locate in the 
Mississippi Valley and 
attempt to zvork their 
cotton ■ plantations as 
they do their farms in 
Illinois and Iowa? 

The question under 
discussion is the comparison of cotton lands with Northern farm lands, as an invest- 
ment. The above question is not, therefore, pertinent, but it is a common one and 
should be answered. 

It is hard to determine why, but it is a fact, that the negro is especially adapted 
to growing cotton. It is also a fact that the climate in which cotton grows most 
successfully is peculiarly adapted to the African race. Under such conditions, with 
plenty of negroes to perform this labor, it seems fitting that such work be assigned 
to them. We would not be understood to urge that the Northern white man cannot 
plant and cultivate cotton equally as well as the negro, nor would we even intimate 
that they cannot withstand the scorching sun of a cotton climate; but experience 
has shown that the negroes of the Mississippi Valley are the natural producers of 
cotton, and the Northern farmers gets better results when he recognizes this fact, 
and employs them, either as tenants or laborers, to do such work. 

In the discussion of this question, the writer has had but one thing in mind, 
viz. : to convince Northern land investors, such as bankers, lawyers, railroad men, 
real estate agents, and others having means to invest in farms, that the cotton planta- 
tion in the Mississippi Valley is a better investment and promises larger returns 
on the money invested, than Northern farms ; that the original investment in a 
cotton plantation is less than half that in a Northern farm of the same size ; that 
the annual cost of maintenance is not one-tenth that of the Northern farm; that 
rents are nearly double and even more secure in the South than in the North ; and 
that the supply of tenants always exceeds the demand. 

Real estate investments have made money for every investor throughout the 
Northwest, who has used any judgment in the selection of his lands. The same 
will be true of all who invest in cotton lands, improved or unimproved, in the Mis- 
sissippi Valley, along the line of the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad between 
Memphis and Vicksburg. Low rates are made to points in this territory on the first 
and third Tuesdays of each month. A week or ten days is sufficient to make the 
trip and investigate the lands under discussion. We venture the prediction that 
within five years many Northern men, who live in the North, will own and rent 
cotton plantations in the Mississippi Valley, and that the net returns will justify 
all we have said concerning such investments. Naturally, the results will tend to 
attract Northern farmers who will locate there permanently, either on plantations, 
or in nearby towns. 

Question No. 6. Hoiv about markets for cotton? 

The city of Memphis, adjacent to the lands under discussion, is the largest 



Information for Home Seekers and Investors 



interior cotton market in the South. Not only is Memphis a great cotton market, 
but it is one of the most enterprising cities on this continent.* Without doubt, the 
census for the year 1910 will give Memphis a population of 200,000, possibly more. 
New Orleans, the present industrial and commercial metropolis of the South, 
and destined to become one of six of the largest cities on this continent, is the 
greatest cotton market of the world, and is also very accessible to the Mississippi 
Valley. Indeed, the market facilities for cotton could hardly be improved. With 
lands as fertile as the Valley of the Nile, and market advantages unsurpassed, no 
one need hesitate in making investments in Mississippi plantations, along the lines 
of the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley or Illinois Central Railroads. 

TRUCK FARMING IN THE SOUTH. 

In this particular the atteution of Northern gardeners and others is called to the 
possibilities of truck gardening in the South. Adjacent to large cities throughout 
the Northwest are found vegetable growers who devote their entire time, during 
the summer months, to growing truck for the city markets. Many of them do 
fairly well, but on account of the high price of lands adjacent to cities and exprbitant 
taxes that always obtain in such localities, they cannot afiford to own more than one 
to five acres of land ; and in a, climate where only one crop is successfully grown 
in a season, it is impossible for such farmers to make more than a comfortable 

living. In the South 
truck farmers do not 
spend all the money 
they make during the 
summer for fuel to 
keep them warm dur- 
ing the winter. In- 
deed, the annual ex- 
pense for fuel in the 
South is comparative- 
ly nothing, and there 
is scarcely a month in 
the year when the 
truck farmers of the 
South do not have 
something that finds 
ready sale in North- 
ern markets at remu- 
nerative prices. 

The writer will aim to answer, briefly, questions that naturally arise in the 
minds of Northern vegetable growers, as to truck farming in the South : 

Question No. i. What territory in the South is best adapted to Truck 
Farming ? 

Nearly all the country in West Tennessee, Central Mississippi and Northern 
Louisiana, adjacent to the Illinois Central Railroad, is adapted to the growing 
of vegetables, but the section of country where truck farming has been especially 
successful lies between Jackson, Mississippi, and New Orleans. 

Question No. 2. What is the character of the soil in that locality? 
Formerly the country above referred to was covered with virgin pine forests, 
but the merchantable timber has long since been sawed into lumber, some of which 
may have been used in the Northern home of the reader of this circular. After the 
timber had been removed, the soil was regarded so poor that the lands were for 
years, considered as worthless ! — indeed, $1 per acre was the average price of pine 
lands in this locality, after the merchantable timber was removed. About twenty 
years ago, however, this apparently worthless soil, which was simply a sandy loam 
with a thin clay sub-soil, was found to be especially adapted to vegetable growing, 




Dairy and Truck Farm, Louisiana. 



Information for Home Seekers and Investors 



1.3 



and as a result thousands of carloads of garden truck are annually shipped from 
this territory to Northern and Eastern markets. 

Question No. 3. What is the present price of such lands? 

Much depends upon the nearness to a shipping station. Within the city limits 
of most of the towns between Jackson and New Orleans, lands suitable for garden- 
ing can be bought for $25 per acre. The same quality of lands within three to five 
miles can be had at $10 per acre, and in some localities at even less. At greater dis- 
tances from town $5 is about the average price. 

Question No. 4. Do these lands require fertilizer? 

Indeed they do, and the kind of fertilizer that gives best permanent results 
is barnyard manure. Commercial fertilizer is used quite extensively and always gives 
good temporary results, but the vegetable growers, whose lands are constantly 
becoming better and richer, are those who keep a few cows and other stock and 
care for every pound of manure as they would for so much gold dust. 

Question No. 5. What varieties of vegetables grozvn in the South are most 
valuable for shipment f 

Nearly every variety of garden truck can be grown successfully and profitably 
in the territory under discussion. It is in the South, however — as elsewhere — 
that some varieties are more profitable than others. Lettuce, beans, radishes, onions, 
tomatoes and cabbages are grown with profit. Some years the markets are not 
so good as others, but taking one year with another the net results are very satis- 
factory. 

Question No. 6. About ivhat is the average profit per acre on vegetables? 

It is hard to answer this question. Vegetable growers average about the same 
as other farmers. Some are careful in the preparation of the soil, in the cultivation 
of same, in the selection of seeds adapted to the soil and climate, and as a result 
they always get a much larger yield that the man who carelessly puts in his crop 
and trusts the Lord for results At Hammond, Ponchatoula, Roseland and other 
points in Louisiana, may be found growers who have made from $600 to $1,000 per 
acre in cultivating lettuce; radishes, from $100 to $200 per acre; beans, $125 to $175. 
Cabbages, grown on drained swamp lands a few miles north of New Orleans, are 
so profitable that only a few years since one of these cabbage growers, on a few 
acres of land, made enough money in one season to take his entire family abroad. 
Question No. 7. Hozv about shipping facilities? 

New Orleans, a city of 350,000 inhabitants, and destined in the near future to 
become one of the largest commercial and industrial cities in the United States, is 
within easy reach o! 
all the territory above 
described, and affords 
a daily market for 
every variety of gar- 
den truck. Twenty 
years ago it would 
have been impossible 
to handle, with profit, 
garden truck to Chi- 
cago and other North- 
ern markets, but to- 
day the Illinois Cen- 
tral Railroad Com- 
pany is running 
through fast trains of 
iced cars, on quick 
schedules, that handle ^ ^°"°° ^'^^'^^ *° Mississippi, 

perishable products, which they land in Chicago in nearly as good condition as the 




14 



Information for Home Seekers and Investors 



local gardener within ten miles of Chicago, who carts his stuff from the garden 
direct to South Water street. 

From the above it will be seen that truck farming in the South may be made 
profitable with a comparatively small investment. The writer contends that forty 




acres is about the size of an ideal Southern truck farm, the cost of which if 
located near a railway, would be from $500 to $1,000. The cost of buildings which 
would include a very comfortable Southern home, need not be to exceed $1000 



Information for Home Seekers and Investors 15 

In other words, with a $2,000 investment a Southern truck farmer may be thor- 
oughly equipped for a successful and profitable business. Indeed, a truck farmer 
who thoroughly understands the business can do well in the South with $1,000, or 
even less. He should keep a few cows, the milk from which will find ready market 
at every station where it is purchased, at good prices for shipment to New Orleans. 
He should have a nice patch of strawberries, and as many acres in vegetables as 
he can consistently manage. 

We trust this pamphlet will fall into the hands of many practical truck farmers 
throughout the Northwest who will make it convenient to take advantage of Home- 
seekers' Rates, on the First and Third Tuesdays of eacJi inontli, and visit the towns 
on the line of the Illinois Central Railroad, between Jackson, Mississippi, and 
Ponchatoula, Louisiana. 

FRUIT GROWING IN THE SOUTH. 

Question No. i. Can apples be grozvn successfully in the South? 

As a rule, little attention is paid to the growing of apples in the South, except 
for home consumption. There are, however, two localities on the line of the 
Southern Division of the Illinois Central Railroad, where apples are grown for 
shipment, and quite successfully. We refer to the counties of Hardin, Larue and 
Grayson, Kentucky, only .a few miles out from Louisville. The country in this 
locality is broken, and the soil a reddish clay, which is especially adapted to fruit 
growing. From Vine Grove, a small station in this territory, no less than 3,000 
barrels of apples are annually shipped to Eastern and Northern markets ; and what 
will astonish the reader is the fact that lands in this locality suitable for apple grow- 
ing are in the market at from $10 to $20 per acre. West Tennessee is also noted 
for the quantity and quality of its large red apples, that are grown for shipment, 
and always find ready sale. 

In the vicinity of Milan, Jackson and Dyersburg, Tennessee, may be found sev- 
eral large apple orchards, showing as healthy trees as can be found in any of the 
so-called apple states of the North. The state of Mississippi raises for home 
consumption several varieties of summer and fall apples ; and even from as far 
south as Hammond, Louisiana, a Mr. R. J. Moore (formerly a resident of the 
fruit-growing section of Kansas), writes that he has grown good specimens of 
Ben Davis, Red Astrachan, Wolf River, Florida Jennings, and other varieties of 
apples on his place near Hammond. 

It will be seen from the above that apples can be successfully grown in the 
South, but the writer does not regard the apple as a staple fruit, as it is in some of 
the more northern states. Nature has, however, generously favored the South with 
other fruits that are indigenous to that soil and climate. 

Question No. 2. Are peaches a sure crop in the South? 

Peaches cannot be said to be an absolutely sure crop, even in Michigan. But 
as a rule, in the South, peaches can be relied upon with a great deal of regularity, 
and in the early spring time, in nearly every portion of the South may be seen the 
beautiful pink peach blossoms, so attractive to the eye, and so full of promise for 
a rich harvest of the most delicious fruit that grows. 

On a high point only twenty miles out from Louisville is what is known as 
Muldraugh's Hill, where, during the Civil War, a fort was established of which 
the earthworks and entrenchments are yet intact. Adjacent to this station the 
cultivation of peaches has become the chief industry, and it is said that Muldraugh's 
Hill peaches are the finest in the world, and command the highest prices in all 
Northern markets. 

West Tennessee farmers all grow a few peaches for their own use, but, with 
very few exceptions, they are not grown for shipment. 

The Experiment Station at Agricultural College, Mississippi, publishes the 
fact that the district lying between Durant and Crystal Springs, Mississippi, is 
especially adapted to peach growing, and as the Experiment Station is constantly 
studying the horticultural, as well as agricultural conditions of the state, it can be 



i6 



Information for Home Seekers and Investors 



regarded as an authority. As an evidence of the correctness of their findings, we 
refer to Ridgeland and Madison Stations on the line of the IlHnois Central Railroad 
about midway between Durant and Crystal Springs. Ridgeland is a Northern settle- 
ment, the location of the Highland Colony Company, consisting of about one 
hundred Northern families engaged in cultivating peaches, and though the orchards 
are young (the colony being only six years old), the shipment of peaches from 
this one station the past season amounted to twenty carloads. Mr. C. B. Thompson 
of Ridgeland writes that 
from a young orchard, of 
thirty acres he picked 7,I39 
crates, that netted him $3,- 
072. Mr. Thompson regards 
the Elberta and Greenbor- 
ough as the best varieties. 
Peach trees in that locality 
begin to bear when two 
years old Mr. Thompson 
further advises that from 
ten acres of young Elbertas 
he shipped 3,200 crates that 
netted him $1,900. No in- 
sects have interfered with 
the growth of the trees ex- 
cept the common grub 
worm, or "peach borer," 
andthey work above 
ground, around the trunks 
of the trees. The peach tree 
always seems to thrive best 
on high ground, and in thin, 
red clay soil. When they 
can be had, wood ashes are 
used, and are considered 
decidedly the best fertilizer. 
In the vicinity of Ridegland 
and Madison, the peach 
orchards now aggregate 
about 600 acres. Parties in- 
terested in peach growing 
should visit the above points 
in Kentucky and Missis- 
sippi, and they will be sur- 
prised to see how cheaply 
they can buy lands best 
suited to the cultivation of 
this fruit. 

Question No. 3. Hoiv 
about strazvberrics? 

The South is unquestion- 
ably the natural home of 
the strawberry, and the de- 
licious flavor of the South- 
ern strawberry is not found 
anywhere else in this coun- 
try. Not only is the qual- 
ity of the best, but the 





Information for Home Seekers and Investors. 17 

quantity is surprisingly large. The Southern berry grower has another advan- 
tage over his brother of the North, and that is in getting his berries into market 
early. From Louisiana and southern Mississippi, berries are frequently ready for 
market during the month of March, and shipments continue until June, or until 
such time as the Northern markets are so glutted as to make it unprofitable to ship 
them so far. From northern Mississippi, western Tennessee and Kentucky, ship- 
ments are usually two or three weeks later than from Louisiana points. 

The following statement will interest every strawberry grower : From Durant, 
Mississippi, no less than thirty-two carloads of berries were shipped by freight 
during the past season, and ten carloads by express, making a total of forty-two 
carloads during the past season. Madison, Mississippi, shipped fifty carloads. Mad- 
ison was the home of Dr. McKay, deceased, who for years was the largest straw- 
berry grower in the South, and earned the title of "Strawberry King." He was 
largely responsible for the rapid development of the fruit industry of the South. 
His children are now engaged in strawberry culture, but not on so large a scale. 
We have not the figures at hand as to the number of carloads shipped from Ridge- 
land, but it is said that at least $20,000 was paid out at this point for strawberries 
sold on track, besides shipments to different markets. The three varieties that seem 
to be regarded with most favor on account of size, firmness and flavor, are the Lady 
Thompson, Excelsior and Klondike. 

But of all the stations from which shipments of strawberries are made, Inde- 
pendence, Louisiana, is, no doubt, entitled to the blue ribbon for having shipped the 
greatest number of carloads the past season. The agent's report from that station 
gives the incredible number of one hundred full carloads. The writer remembers 
very pleasantly a visit to Dr. Buck's strawberry patch at Independence years ago, 
when strawberry growing was in its infancy in Louisiana, and judging from the 
shipments from that station this season, Independence has reason tO' feel proud, 
not only of the quantity of berries, but of their quality, which is of the highest. 

Roseland, Louisiana, is another northern settlement whose people are engaged in 
fruit growing and gardening. The shipment of berries from that point the past 
season amounted to 1,744,400 pounds. 

Hammond, Louisiana, is still another Northern colony, where at one time more 
strawberries were grown than any point on the line of the Illinois Central ; but 
of late, dairying and shipping milk to New Orleans has superseded strawberry 
growing to a certain extent, but the conditions for growing berries at this point 
are as favorable as ever, and the following information from Mr. R. J. Moore will 
be of interest to strawberry growers generally. He says : "Strawberries will grow 
in any soil about Hammond, either sandy, heavy clay or black loam ;" that he has 
experimented with all of them ; that the sandy soil "is preferable on account of the 
earlier ripening of the berries." Mr. Moore thinks that to get best results plants 
must have plenty of water and plenty of fertilizer. The varieties he is partial to 
are Moore's Diamond and Lady Thompson. The cost of picking berries at Ham- 
mond is one per cent per pint. Fertilizer costs about $9 per acre, and the amount net 
per acre realized from berries, one year with another, is from $100 to $300. Fre- 
quently strawberry plants are put out in August, after a crop of cucumbers or some 
other vegetable has been harvested. Mr. Moore advises that this season he realized 
$899.07 from three and one-half acres of berries. 

Ponchatoula, Louisiana, has an excellent soil for strawberry growing, and her 
shipments this year amounted to 205,095 pounds. 

From the above it will be seen that the entire country from Durant, Mississippi, 
to Ponchatoula, Louisiana, is especially adapted to the growing of this fruit. 

Question No. 4. — What is the present price of lands betzvcen Durant and 
Ponchatoula, suitable for strawberry cultured 

The lands usually devoted to strawberry growing in the territory mentioned 
are those from which the pine timber has been cut, and which, up to the time 
of successful experiments with fruit and vegetable growing in the South, really 



i8 Information for Home Seekers and Investors 

had no value. Not being sufficiently fertile to grow cotton, corn or cane, $i per 
acre was for years the uniform price for pine lands from which the merchantable 
timber had been cut. Today, however, these lands have a value, and if located 
within the corporate limits of some good town, the price is about $25 per acre; 
outside the town limits, but adjacent thereto, from $10 to $15 per acre. Within this 
territory, however, are many small stations like Independence, Louisiana, from 
which one hundred cars of berries were shipped this season where lands within 
three miles of the railway station can be bought for $5 per acre, and by going still 
farther from a station the prices are even less than $S — probably $2.50 or $3.50. 
There is this to be said, however, that berries, in order to reach Northern markets 
in the best possible condition, must be delivered at the station and placed in the 
car with just as little bruising as possible. For this reason, a berry farm should 
be within quick and easy reach of the shipping point. 

Question No. 5. — Is there any difUculty in the South in securing help during 
the picking season? 

The same conditions prevail in the South, so far as help is concerned, as in 
the North. At times berry growers find it difficult to get all the pickers they may 
need for a particular day, but as men, women and children seem to enjoy this work, 
there has been no serious trouble or loss of berries that has come to our knowledge, 
on account of scarcity of help. It should be remembered that the season for pick- 
ing berries in the South is much longer than in the North. The writer has known 
of a crop in the North ripening and being picked in two weeks, while in the South 
they continue to blossom and ripen for two months, and in some cases it has been 
even three months from the time of the first to the last picking. Ripening slowly, as 
they do in the South, not so many pickers are required to do the work. 

Question No. 6. — Are all shipments of Southern berries made to Northern 
markets? 

No, not all of them. The early shipments, however, are usually made to 
Chicago, St. Louis and Cincinnati, as they often reach these markets before the 
snow and ice have disappeared, and are such a luxury that they bring exorbitant 
prices. The Southern markets get only a small percentage of the early berries, but 
later in the season, when the berries will not stand long shipments, or when prices 
in the Northern markets are too low to ship with profit, the Southern markets get 
nearly all of the shipments. The Illinois Central Railroad Company, appreciating 
to the fullest extent the necessity of having fruit and vegetables grown on its line 
reach Northern markets in the best possible condition, has not only provided the 
best of refrigerator cars, but, during the season, runs fruit trains from New Orleans 
to Chicago, shipments being picked up from all stations, say within one hundred 
miles, and from the last point the train is run through to Chicago on fast schedule, 
stopping only for coal and water, and at certain points for re-icing. In addition to 
its system for handling perishable products en route, the "Central" has a store- 
house or fruit warehouse at Chicago in which fifty cars can be quickly handled at 
one time. 

The question of fruit growing in the South is an important one. So much so 
that we have been able in a brief way to mention only three kinds of fruits, viz. : 
apples, peaches and strawberries. It must not be understood, however, that these 
are the only fruits that can be successfully grown in the South. Figs are grown 
in Louisiana with great success. Certain varieties of pears do fairly well. Mus- 
cadine and Scuppernong grapes are to be found everywhere in the South. Japan 
and other varieties of plums are grown for home consumption. Blackberries, dew- 
berries and mayhaws grow wild, and every housewife must have a supply of jam 
made from these wild fruits. 

STOCK RAISING IN THE SOUTH. 

The Hon. James Wilson, Secretary of Agriculture — in a recent article in "The 
Southern Planter" published at Richmond, Virginia— gave expression to the follow- 



Information for Home Seekers and Investors 19 

ing statement concerning stock raising in the South : "What the South needs is 
the introduction of more domestic animals on every Southern farm." And he 
further remarks that after years of observation and study of animal industry in 
the South, there are many domestic animals that can be raised quite as well in that 
particular section of the country as anywhere else. He was careful to emphasize 
the fact that at the present time, throughout the world, there is an unprecedented 
demand for just such horses as only Southern people know how to produce and 
train. He also urged that the South can, and should, supply early spring lambs 
for all Northern markets ; that dairying ought to become one of the leading farm 
industries of the South ; that the old-time smokehouse, found on every Southern 
plantation before the war, and in which was smoked the finest hams that ever 
graced a breakfast table, ought to be restored ; and that the fine bacon hog, for 
which some portions of the South have become noted, ought to be more extensively 
raised in every state south of the Ohio river. 

Secretary Wilson is a man of large experience and wide observation. He 
would never have made these statements did he not believe and know that the con- 
ditions were favorable for successfully carrying them out. The departments of 
Animal Industry connected with the Agricultural Colleges of Kentucky, West Ten- 
nessee, Mississippi and Louisiana, are giving special attention to the growing of 
grasses and forage crops, and are experimenting with every variety known to a semi- 
tropical country, with a view to furnishing reliable information that will be of incal- 
culable benefit to every stock raiser. 

Northern farmers understand that the value of stock raising cannot be meas- 
ured alone by the net profits from the sale of stock. There are other indirect 
benefits that are not applicable to any other farm industry. We refer more par- 
ticularly to the matter of fertilization. The farm on which cotton or wheat is 
grown for a term of years becomes poor and non-productive. In the Southern 
states may yet be found a good deal of worn out cotton land that can only be 
resuscitated by stocking the farm with cattle. Our Northern readers will, there- 
fore, keep in mind that many of the low-priced lands in the South may become 
valuable through the introduction of domestic animals that will consume the native 
grass and the great variety and abundance of forage so cheaply and so quickly 
grown on these old and apparently worthless plantations. 

The South may never be able to compete with some of the natural gracing 
states of the West, but the time is not far distant when every Southern planter and 
farmer will raise his own horses, mules, cows and hogs, and will thus reduce to the 
minimum the expense of maintaining a Southern farm. 

Question No. i. — Is stock feeding in the South practicable? 

Until quite recently no attempt has been made to feed cattle in the four South- 
ern states under discussion (that is, with a view to supplying Northern markets 
with Southern beef), except, perhaps, in a few instances in the state of Kentucky, 
where the conditions are all favorable ; and in Mississippi, where a few large herds 
have been shipped in from Texas and fattened on the by-products of cottonseed, 
such as cottonseed meal, oil cake and cottonseed hulls. 

During the month of July Prof. Andrew M. Soule, Vice-Director of the Ten- 
nessee Agricultural College, compiled a bulletin entitled, "Feeding Native Steers," 
in which the subject is thoroughly handled, and the results given of actual experi- 
ments made at that station. We cannot publish in a brief circular even a synopsis 
of the statements made by Prof. Soule, but we quote a few lines of what he says 
in a general way concerning the raising of beef cattle in Tennessee : 

"Our farmers spend about $1,500,000 annually for fertilzers. There are in 
round numbers 1,000,000 head of cattle of all classes in the state. The droppings 
from a single beast, according to the results obtained at a number of experiment 
stations, are worth' about $20 a year, so that an appalling waste is going on wlier 
one considers how insignificant an amount of stable manure is being utilizer' 



Information for Home Seekers and Investors 



on our farms. If only one-fifth of the 
in the state was utiHzed as it should be, 
incurred by our farmers 
twice over. These figures 
indicate how very important 
it is that the cattle now 
grown in the state be re- 
tained and finished within 
its borders. It is quite evi- 
dent that the foreign buyer 
must make a profit on these 
cattle, or else he would not 
continue to purchase them. 
Reliable information shows 
that many of the cattle now 
sold out of the state go to 
Pennsylvania and Maryland 
and other Northeastern 
states for winter feeding. It 
is evident to one familiar 
with the topography oi the 
country that it is not pos- 
sible to produce crops for 
cattle feeding of a better va- 
riety and character, or on 
a more economical basis in 
Maryland and Pennsylva- 
nia than in Tennessee, and 
it is also well established 
that the man who places a 
highly finished animal on 
the market derives the great- 
est profit therefrom. That 
beef cattle can be grown in 
the state to the material ad- 
vantage of the farmer, is 
shown by the fact that prop- 
erly finished cattle topped 
the market in Louisville last 
winter on several occasions, 
and recently some 98 head 
were sold by a Knoxville 
feeder for export to Scot- 
land. As the industry, 
comparatively speaking, is 
in its infancy, it is not to be 
expected that great success 
in cattle feeding will bi- 
achieved all at once by our 
farmers. It is a business 
which requires the exercise 
of good judgment and the 
closest personal attention, 
and so it will take time to 
properly develop it." 



value of the droppings of the cattle held 
it would wipe out the fertilizer bills now 




Information for Home Seekers and Investors 21 

Prof. Soule refers, of course, to conditions that obtain in Tennessee. It is 
fair to say, however, that his statement is applicable to many of the other South- 
ern states, and while he does not mention in glowing terms that stock feeding in 
the South is especially profitable, he does furnish food for reflection; and any 
person who would know the details and actual results of his experiments in "Feed- 
ing Native Steers," should address him at Knoxville, Tennessee, and request a copy 
of his bulletin upon that subject. 

Question No. 2.— Is it true that stock in the South need not be fed or sheltered 
during the winter months? 

No, it is not true. Such treatment would be a positive cruelty, and there is no 
excuse for it. There is hardly a farm or plantation in the South that does not. 
or may not at least, grow a sufficient amount of native hay or fodder to furnish an 
abundance of coarse food for- every head of stock on the farm during the winter 
months. Neither is there any excuse for stock in the South not being sheltered. 
While we are having our cold winter blizzards the South is having cold winter rains, 
and one is about as hard on stock as the other. Timber, lumber and labor are 
cheap throughout the South, and when our Southern farmers understand, as do 
our Northern farmers, that every needed barn or shed placed upon the farm not 
only adds to its attractiveness, but to its selling value at least fifty per cent more 
than the cost of the improvements, they will pay more attention to these needed 
shelters for stock from December to April, and thus do away with the false theory 
that stock in the South need not be fed or sheltered during the winter months. 

Question No. 3. — Is it safe to shif> stock fro\n the Nortlnvest to the Southern 
states? 

This question is often asked. The experience of Northern farmers who have 
shipped stock from the Northwest to the South is that a percentage of loss attends 
such shipments of horned cattle, but that calves and horses rarely fever sufifer to any 
extent, provided care is exercised in feeding same, and the stock is not allowed 
to graze during the early spring time. We are inclined to the opinion that immi- 
grants from the extreme Northwest to the extreme South run little risk in shipping 
their horses, but would advise that the cattle be sold and purchases made in the 
South, of stock already acclimated. 

Question No. 4. — How about hog raising in the South? 

There is not a Southern state in which the hog does not thrive. It is true that 
in some the conditions for breeding and fattening hogs successfully are better than 
others, but throughout the South on nearly every farm may be found the native 
hog. Much has been said and written about the Southern "razor-back" not espe- 
cially complimentary, and yet all must admit that the sweetest bacon is grown and 
cured in the South. Prof. Soule, of the University of Tennessee, has the following 
to say concerning this important industry : 

"Some of the more important reasons why swine husbandry should prove 
especially attractive to Southern farmers are summed up in the following paragraph : 
First, there is a mild climate so that the hogs require but little housing. There 
are springs and running streams of water everywhere, a splendid natural range 
and an abundance of mast in the large forest areas still existing in the state. Corn 
and other cereals so commonly and successfully used in the production of pork are 
easily and cheaply produced, and a variety of forage crops, including the clovers 
and many other legumes, thrive remarkably well. Rape, the plant which has been 
successfully used for hog production throughout the Northern states, but whose 
qualities we are only beginning to appreciate, takes kindly to our soil and climate. 
Red clover finds in our red clays a natural heritage. Sorghum, soja beans, hairy 
vetch, artichokes, the velvet bean, the cow pea and Spanish peanuts all thrive well 
singly and some of them in combinations, producing as rich and fine mixtures for 
hog pastures as can be produced anywhere. 

"According to the census of 1900, there were 63,297,249 hogs in the United 



22 Information for Home Seekers and Investors 

States. Of this number 1,885,000 were found in Tennessee. The population of 
Tennessee is about 2,020,000, so that there is less than one hog owned for each 
citizen. Tennessee leads all the south Atlantic and south Central states in the 
number of hogs held on farms, with the exception of Kentucky. The number of 
hogs held on Southern farms is therefore inadequate to supply the needs of the 
population. At the present time the South is paying a heavy tribute to the farmers 
of the central west for hog products, and this in the face of the finest natural 
environments for pork production, in spite of the possession of a splendid home 
market and the ability to produce the highest quality of pork at a very low cost. 
Surely the outlook for the development of swine husbandry in the South is very 
bright. The population of the United States in round numbers is 76,500,000 and 
rapidly increasing. The market for pork products at home and abroad never was 
better than it is today. There is less than one hog held on the farms for each 
citizen, and especially is it true of the South. The Southern farmer ought to supply 
his home markets with their meat; he ought to have more hogs to sell, and keep 
at home the millions of dollars now annually sent North for hog products." 

The following, from Col. Chas. Schuler of Keachie, Louisiana, explains in 
detail a successful and profitable method of hog raising in the South : 

"Hog raising can be successfully followed in Louisiana, and has been a success 
on my farm for thirty-two years. The common expression 'that you must have a 
hog that can outrun a nigger,' is all stuff and nonsense. I cultivate about eight 
hundred acres, use altogether negro labor, and cannot remember ever having a pig 
or hog stolen. I raise hogs in connection with my main money crop — cotton. 1 
usually kill from fifty to seventy-five head each year, averaging from one hundred 
and fifty to two hundred pounds net per head. I use thoroughbred males, changing 
them every two or three years. I kill on the farm, and sell surplus to merchants 
and customers in the city. Never have trouble in realizing cash for hog products. 
Have kept dry salt meats (sides) from hogs killed in December, perfectly sweet 
and good until the latter part of May. After that time I would advise smoking. 
Have kept, and exhibited at county fairs, hams that were eighteen months old after 
killing, perfectly sound and sweet. The fact is that the Louisiana hams, as cured 
by me, have a reputation for good quality, equal to any ham made in this country. I 
prefer killing on the farm to selling to packers, because owing to the price that 
we can realize for corn, it is much cheaper to raise hogs the way I do than to fatten 
at all times of the year. I claim that by adopting my methods, and charging the 
hog up only with the labor of producing the food, letting him do his own harvesting, 
that gross pork can be raised in this climate at not much over one-half cent per 
pound. 

"Now as to method : I want my sows, as near as possible, to have two litters 
of pigs each — the first about the last of August or the first of September, the second 
about the last of March. Everything born before the first of April goes to the 
smoke house the following winter. 

"As to the matter of feed : I have pastures containing Bermuda and native 
grasses, with plenty of water; containing also forest trees for shade and acorns. 
For winter pasture I sow oats and vetch in October. I also feed, during winter, 
such nubbins of corn as would be unfit to feed to my work stock. In March I sow 
early amber sorghum broadcast, for pasture. It will come in about the latter part 
of April, and it is astonishing the number of sows and pigs that can be kept in a 
growing and healthy condition on a few acres of sorghum. The latter part of May 
brings in the oats. Let the hogs harvest all you don't want for your work stock. 
June will bring in the early sugar corn. Let the hogs get ear, stalk and all. Latter 
part of June and July come in the peas — the Whippoorvvill and other early varieties. 
Then commence crowding the hogs you expect to kill in the fall and winter. In 
July your roasting ears — stalks and all — with peas sown broadcast in it, will come 
into play. In August the Spanish goober, or peanut, which will permit you to cut 



Information for Home Seekers and Investors 



23 



a good crop of hay, and besides furnish you the best of hog food at comparatively 
small cost, will come in; and that, with sorghum sown in drills, will be ideal food 
and run you through September. In October and November the sweet potatoes, 
second planting of Spanish peanuts, and later on running varieties of peas come in. 
In December turn your hogs in your oat field, which has been planted in Mexican 
June corn, peas, sweet corn and Spanish peanuts, and you can wind up your hogs 
ready for the slaughter pen, and kill them whenever the temperature gets down to 
35 or 40 above freezing. 

"You will see from 
the above that I let 
my Jiogs do their 
own harvesting and 
eat such food, and 
in such quantities as 
they like best, always 
giving them access to 
plenty of grass and 
water. You will also 
notice that my main 
dependence for fatten- 
ing is on the peas and 
Spanish goobers, 
whicli are both soil 
restorers and are eas- 
ily and cheaply grown. 

"As to loss from 
disease, I would say 
that if ordinary sani- 
tary precautions are 
taken, there is very 
little loss." 

Col. Schuler has 
had more than thirty 
years' actual experi- 
ence in hog raising in 
Louisiana. He is a 
member of the State 

Board of Agriculture, and a planter of more than state wide reputation. His testi- 
mony as to "Hog Raising in the South" is, therefore, thoroughly reliable. 




Dairy Scene at Hammond, Louisiana. 



DAIRYING IN THE SOUTH. 

It is difficult for dairymen of the North and East, accustomed to blue grass 
and timothy pastures, and red-top and clover meadows, to understand how it is 
possible to carry on the dairying business successfully in a country with a semi- 
tropical climate, and where tame grass pastures and meadows are practically 
unknown. The object of this circular is to show that successful dairying in the 
South is not wholly dependent upon conditions that are absolutely necessary to 
success in the more Northern and Western states. 

The South produces a greater variety of forage plants than can possibly be 
produced in the North, furnishing two and often three crops per year. The South- 
ern dairyman, by sowing turf oats, hairy vetch, or alfalfa, during the months of 
August or September, may have excellent winter pasture, giving him a decided 
advantage over his brother dairyman of the North, whose cows, at that season of 
the year, instead of pasturing in the open air, are housed in warm basements and 
fed upon ground feed and dry hay. 



24 Information for Home Seekers and Investors 

The South not only has a great variety of forage plants and native grasses, 
insuring ample food provisions for both winter and summer, but it also has what 
is necessary to successful dairying — plenty of pure water. Dr. Wm. C. Stubbs, 
Director of the Louisiana Experiment Station, says : "Nowhere on earth is there 
such an abundance of running water as in the Southern States. The Appalachian 
chain of mountains precipitates its rainfall on the east into the Atlantic ocean, 
and on the west and south into the Gulf of Mexico, through many streams. Springs 
abound in many sections, and creeks and brooks permeate nearly every farm. 
Artesian wells, at a nominal cost, may be had by every Southern dairyman. Indeed, 
the water supply for stock, throughout the South, may be considered nearly perfect." 

Question No. i. — What branch of dairying is most profitable in the South :^ 

Mr. Henry E. Alford, Chief of the Dairy Division U. S. Department of Agri- 
culture, Washington, D. C, who is an acknowledged authority on the subject, has 
answered this question in an article in the "Southern Planter." I quote from him 
as follows : 

"The branch of dairying which offers the most immediate and surest profit, in 
the Southern states, is undoubtedly that of producing milk for the supply of nearby 
cities and towns. Although almost every locality has some sort of milk supply 
already, the business is, as a rule, very unsystematically and insufficiently done. 
There are in the South hundreds of places, if not thousands, where the supply is 
unsatisfactory in quality and uncertain and irregular in quantity. The whole service 
is susceptible of very great improvements, and it is morally certain that a rich reward 
awaits the man or men who will intelligently and energetically occupy this field and 
really satisfy the wants of the community. 

"The greatest profit will accrue to those who go at once to the top and aim to 
secure the cream of the trade by adopting the most approved methods, and offering 
consumers, at fair prices, better milk than they have previously been able to procure, 
uniform in its high quality, safe because pure, delivered in attractive form and in 
condition to ensure good keeping properties. The large cities and towns offer the 
best opportunities, the very best being towns of industrial activity, which give 
promise of healthy growth and the steady increase of a population obliged to buy 
its food supply and with money to pay for it. A man who will locate within easy 
reach of such a town and make market milk, prepare it and sell it, according to the 
best of modern methods, is about as sure of success as in any line of agricultural 
effort anywhere in this country. 

"There are, besides, many places both large and small, where by very moderate 
effort and without any radical change of system, the local milk supply can be vastly 
improved and consumption greatly increased, by simply making this business a 
specialty, offering good, clean milk, regularly and well delivered." 

Prof. Alford is unquestionably right in his statement that supplying cities and 
towns with pure milk is the branch of dairying tKat offers surest profits in the 
Southern states. And he might have added that the conditions on the line of the 
Southern Division of the Illinois Central Railroad are especially adapted to this 
class of dairying, inasmuch as there are on this line three large cities, viz. : Louis- 
ville, Kentucky; Memphis, Tennessee, and New Orleans, Louisiana — cities that are 
rapidly growing in population, in commercial importance, and now having an unprec- 
edented industrial development. These cities consume daily, vast amounts of 
dairy products, and, could they be assured that a high grade of milk would be 
furnished, the consumption could be easily doubled. 

Question No. 2. — Are Northern men, nozv located in the South, engaged in this 
branch of dairying; and if so, zvith what success? 

At Hammond, Louisiana, a point on the Illinois Central Railroad fifty-two miles 
north to New Orleans, where, within a radius of five miles, about two thousand 
Northern people are now located, quite a little attention is being paid to shipping 
milk to New Orleans. Indeed, if one happens to be at Hammond at the hour for 



Information for Home Seekers and Investors 25 

morning shipments, he is reminded, by the array of mill-c cans, of some of the noted 
points in Illinois, Ohio and New York, where shipping milk to nearby cities has for 
years been regarded as a most profitable industry. At Roseland, Louisiana — another 
Northern colony of several hundred people — quite a number of farmers have found 
it profitable to keep a few cows, the milk from which is shipped daily to the city 
of New Orleans. 

Question No. 3. — What price is paid for milk delivered at the station? 

The price varies at dififerent seasons of the year. A fair average price is about 
thirteen cents per gallon, and what is said of prices for milk shipped to New Orleans 
is practically true of Memphis and Louisville. 

Question No. 4. — IVhat feed is most popular in the South? 

In addition to the native grasses that are abundant everywhere, we find, espe- 
cially at Hammond, that dairymen are using a combination of cotton seed hulls, 
cotton seed meal and corn in about equal parts, at a cost of about eight to ten cents 
per day for each cow. 

Prof. Moore, of the Mississippi Agricultural College, has published the follow- 
ing concerning winter dairying in the South, and the feeding of cows for several 
weeks after calving : 

"Winter dairying furnishes profitable employment at a season of the year when 
other work is not pressing and dairy products bring a higher price. More time can 
also be given to the raising of the calves, and less trouble will be experienced from 
the heat, sour milk, diarrhoea and flies, than during the summer, and the calves can 
go from skim milk to good pastures when they are just old enough to make the 
best use of them. The feed and care of the cow for the first three months after 
calving will largely determine the amount of milk and butter the cow will produce 
during the year. At the time of calving the cow should be fed light, laxative feeds, 
such as wheat bran, and all the hay and water she wants. As soon as she has 
recovered from calving, the feed should be gradually increased until the full limit 
of profitable feeding is reached. We usually take from two to three months to get 
the cow on full rations. After the cow begins to decrease in her flow of milk, the 
ration should be reduced. In the feeding of a herd of dairy cows, the judgment of 
the feeder must always play a very important part, and the best results will be 
secured by those who change the rations to suit the taste and requirements of the 
individual cow." 

Prof. A. M. Soule, of the Tennessee Experiment Station, has published in 
bulletin form, an article entitled "The Relative Value of Protein and Cotton Seed 
Meal, Cow Pea Hay and Wheat Bran." We quote from his article as follows : 

"Feeding the dairy cow would be a comparatively easy matter were it not for 
the difficulty experienced in securing a sufficient amount of protein to supply the 
heavy demands made on her system in the production of milk. Cheap and abun- 
dant fodder crops can be grown with comparative ease to supply the more bulky 
part of her ration; but the protein needed is much harder to provide in a desirable 
form at a price within the reach of the average dairyman. The abundance of cotton 
seed meal in the South should ofifer a happy solution of the difficulty, but there 
are many places where freight rates make cotton seed meal quite as expensive as 
in the states of the far Northwest; and then it frequently happens that the dairyman 
does not see his way clear to pay out a large amount of money for cotton seed 
meal, for, as the old axiom puts it, 'A dollar saved is a dollar made.' So it is to 
his interest to discover if possible a means by which he can produce the needed 
protein on his own farm, and thus save the heavy drain on his resources required 
by the purcliase of cotton seed meal or some other concentrate rich in protein. 

"In the sections where cotton seed meal is particularly abundant and so com- 
paratively cheap, the present investigation may seem to have but slight application, 
but the reader must remember that the best results in feeding dairy cows come 
from a combination of concentrates, rather than from the exclusive use of one, 



26 Information for Home Seekers and Investors 

no matter how rich that may be in the elements most needed for the economic 
production of milk. Cotton seed meal has now been fed long enough to establish 
its virtue as a feed for dairy cows, but it has also been shown that it is unwise to 
employ it exclusively for that purpose, as it is so rich, not only in protein but in 
fat and in other constituents as well, that it has a tendency to produce various 
nervous derangements of the cow's system, entailing serious losses that could easily 
be avoided if the meal were employed in a more rational manner. The present in- 
vestigation, therefore, has a much wider application and a more general interest than 
would at first seem to be the case. 

"It now becomes important to discover what crops may be grown on the South- 
ern farm to supply protein abundantly and in an economical manner. Fortunately, 
the Southern soil is adapted to the culture of several of the most important legumes 
known to mankind. Among these, the one that stands out prominently, is the cow 
pea. It is well adapted to every section of the South, and can be utilized in more 
ways than any other legume, and besides making a most excellent hay, rich in 
protein, it has the power of materially improving the mechanical condition and the 
crop-producing power of the land, an item of the most profound concern to the 
Southern farmer, who has been somewhat careless with regard to such matters, 
and has sold his cotton seed to the oil mill because of its ready cash value, though 
failing to return to the soil in some other form the equivalent of the plant food 
thus removed. As a result, the fertility of much of our land has been seriously 
impaired, and so it is a particularly happy coincidence that the cow pea can be 
employed to rehabilitate the soil, produce a hay rich in protein, which combines most 
happily with cotton seed meal as a feed for dairy cows, and can even be used to 
advantage as a substitute for wheat bran or cotton seed meal under certain con- 
ditions." 

Question No. 5. — Arc there any successful creameries in the South? 

Yes ; a few creameries, located in communities where there are a sufficient 
number of cows, and where other conditions are favorable, have been fairly success- 
ful. But the creamery industry languishes in the South, for the reason that, as yet. 
few communities have a sufficient number of cows to make it profitable ; and, until 
the farmers of the South increase their herds, it is generally believed that the 
"Cream Separators," such as are now in use throughout the sparsely settled portions 
of the Dakotas, are more economical, and better adapted to Southern conditions. 
The writer, a few months since, while traveling through South Dakota, was sur- 
prised to learn that farmers seventy miles west of Aberdeen, who had from five to 
twenty cows each, owned cream separators at a cost of $75 to $100, shipped their 
cream to a firm at Aberdeen, and were pleased with the results. There is certainly 
no reason why Southern farmers should not have their cream separators, and when 
enough of them engage in this business, some enterprising creamery man will be 
found who will locate at a central point, and purchase the cream and convert it 
into butter. In discussing the question of hand separators, the "Nebraska Dairy- 
man" has the following : 

"There have been discussions galore concerning the merits and demerits of the 
hand separator gathered cream method of conducting the creameries. The fact 
that so much has been written and said on this subject, indicates the interest that 
is being taken by various parties. The manufacturers of separators would rather 
furnish 500 hand separators for use of creamery patrons than to furnish three or 
four of the power machines. Naturally there is a larger margin of profit in the 
greater number of smaller machines than in a few of the larger ones. From their 
standpoint in a commercial sense, the hand separator ought to prevail and will. 

"We have reference particularly, in speaking of the farmer or patron who has 
the small dairy of from five to ten cows. The farmer with a larger dairy does not 
look upon it with quite as much favor. He does not see as many advantages as the 
smaller farmer. Another feature, and one which we believe will have a much 



Information for Home Seekers and Investors 



greater influence than any other one factor in increasing the number of hand 
separators sold, is that it puts the smaller farmer with the five or ten cow dairy 
on the same plane, as far as getting the return from the product of his cows, as 
•the dairyman with the larger herd of from twenty or fifty. He receives the same 
price per hundred for his butter fat from his five or ten cows as does the farmer 
for his butter fat from the twenty or fifty cow herd. The skim milk is worth just 
as much in proportion for feeding purposes as the larger, and his location, whether 
it be near or far from the factory, is not a drawback. The cream is taken from 
his own door and he has no ditticulty in securing a customer for his cream, 
although he may be ten or fifteen miles from the nearest creamery, and possibly 
one hundred. 

"This special feature of the hand separator gathered cream system is one that 
will be considered more and more, by farmers, in what might be called the outlying 
territory of the dairy districts. They are not inclined to keep more than enough 
cows to supply their own needs as they have no market for their product, except 
what they may get for their butter made in the old-fashioned way with poor facili- 
ties, and sold or traded- at very moderate prices that hardly pay for the labor of 
preparing it. It does not take a large amount of eloquence or good fellowship to 

convince the farmer 

under these conditions 

that the hand separator 

is his salvation. Once 

he has installed his sep- 
arator and has received 

his check for the month 

for his cream, he be- 
comes enthusiastic and 

is an advocate of the 

hand separator system, 

and does missionary 

work among his brother 

farmers. This accounts 

largely for the growth 

of the hand separator 

system where once it 

gets a foothold. 
"These two special 

features of the hand 

separator system, it 

seems to us, must and 

will increase and en- 
large the demand for 

hand separators for this 

purpose more than any 

other special feature 

connected therewith." 
It is suggested that 

the readers of the fore- 
going who may wish 

for further and more 

detailed information, 

open up a correspond- 
ence with one or more 

of the Directors of the Experiment Stations of the different states which are located 

at Frankfort, Kentucky; Knoxville, 'I'ennessee ; Agricultural College, Mississippi; 




Lespedeza— Estimated Yield, Three Tons Per Acre. 



28 Information for Home Seekers and Investors 

Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Tlie gentlemen in charge of these stations are constantly 
making agricuhural experiments and the results of their investigations may always 
be considered authentic and reliable. 



GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS. 

A request is made for some information as to the kind of pastures used in the 
South, the varieties of grasses and other forage plants for hay, and as to whether 
there are any crops successfully grown in the South that compare with the timothy 
meadows and pastures of the North. This request we consider a reasonable one. 
In pursuance of it, we shall try to give in this circular the facts relating to a few 
of the grasses and forage plants in the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi 
and Louisiana. 

Question No. i. — IVhat grasses and forage plants succeed best in Kentucky? 

Kentucky is noted everywhere for her splendid fields of blue grass, and, fortu- 
nately, this, like some of her other products, has not been confined within the state 
limits, but has "run over," so to speak, into other states. Even Iowa is indebted to 
Kentucky for her thousands of acres of blue grass pastures. Clovers of different 
varieties grow luxuriantly, especially in western Kentucky. Mr. H. Carman, of the 
Agricultural College of Kentucky, located at Lexington, has the following to say 
concerning the grasses and forage plants of his state: 

"Kentucky produces her fair proportion of the forage product of the United 
States. She is just within the wheat belt, and while this is not her characteristic 
crop, some regions of the state are largely occupied with wheat growing and produce 
a winter wheat of very good quality. Oats do not thrive as generally here as in 
some other states, yet the crop is not a small one (1,725,596 bushels in 1898), and 
at times the quality is first-class. Barley and rye do well in the state. Most of our 
soils produce excellent corn, which is the leading forage crop. It is grown in every 
one of the 119 counties, the lowest yield, in 1898, according to our State Com- 
missioner of Agriculture, being 32,380 bushels, while five counties produced more 
than a million bushels each. Sorghum grows well everywhere, and is employed 
both for green forage and for making syrup. Timothy, clover and orchard grass 
are extensively grown for meadow, 361,696 tons of hay, mostly of these grasses, 
being produced by Kentucky in 1898, and in addition 142,875 bushels of grass and 
clover seeds were harvested. The fame of Kentucky does not rest on any of these 
products especially. It is her blue grass pastures that give her standing in the 
world, and their charm that gives the state its peculiar hold on the affections of 
those born and reared upon her soil. The phrase 'Down in Old Kentucky' conveys 
to the wandering Kentuckian a picture in which are sunny slopes of soft green 
grass; grazing horses and cattle, sleek and beautiful beyond the belief of those who 
have not seen them ; together with memories of humming bee, and piping lark, 
and smell of clover and locust blossoms. Blue grass Kentucky is a delightful bit 
of the world in May and June; and all that her children say and believe of her, 
and more, is then true. And it is largely the result of the profusion with which 
the little plant, blue grass, grows in her limestone soil. If it grew everywhere in 
the state as it grows here about Lexington, we should have little occasion to discuss 
forage plants. But Blue Crass Kentucky includes only about one-fifth of the area 
of the state, and outside this section we have yet much to hope and labor for in the 
matter of forage for stock." 

Question No. 2. — Does timothy grass thrive in Tennessee? 
The Agricultural Experiment Station of Tennessee, located at Knoxville, issued 
a pamphlet in 1898 devoted exclusively to Crasses and Forage Plants of that State. 



Information for Home Seekers and Investors 



29 




First Cuttins 



Alfalfa. Was Cut Five Times During the Year. 
Yield, 7,660 Pounds. 



We quote from this 
pamphlet the following, 
as a complete answer 
to this question : 

"Timothy is a peren- 
nial grass and grows 
best upon a moist, te- 
nacious, rich soil. It 
does thrive on high, 
dry or sandy lands, 
hovvever fertile they 
may be. The best sit- 
uation is valley land 
having a soil rich in cal- 
careous matter and hu- 
mus, not too loose or 
friable, but with a suf- 
ficiency of clay in its composition to make it reasonably compact. Timothy starts 
slowly in the spring and it does not take so rank a hold upon the soil as many other 
meadow grasses do. It is not suited for pasturage, for it has little aftermath and the 
tramping of stock soon destroys it. 

"In general, it may be said that the conditions most favorable for the growing 
of timothy hay are: (i) A rich, tenacious, calcareous soil with some humus; (2) 
a situation where moisture is retained in the soil throughout the growing season, 
but in connection with good drainage. 

"After the selection of a suitable soil and situation for the growth of timothy, 
the land should be well and thoroughly broken. The depth of the plowing must be 
regulated by the depth of the soil. On deep, rich, alluvial bottoms, the deeper the 
land is plowed the better. Care, however, must be taken in preparing thin soils not 
to throw too much clay to the surface, for this will impair the fertility of the seed 
bed and prevent the young plants from attaining a vigorous vitality. When the soil 
has been well broken, and repeatedly harrowed until it is thoroughly pulverized, it 
is in a condition to receive the seed. The best time for sowing this grass in Ten- 
nessee is the last week in September or the first week in October, after the dry 
hot weather has been tempered by cool nights, heavy dews and frequent rains. It 
is best not to sow the seed until the ground is moistened by rain, otherwise the 
heavy dews may cause the seed to germinate when the hot suns of mid-day are 
likely to destroy the young plants. 

"The best crop to precede timothy is tobacco, or some clean-hoed crop. The 
next best is a crop of millet or Hungarian grass sown in the summer and harvested 
in September. This leaves the land clean and free from any noxious vegetation. 
Many persons, after the removal of the millet, do not re-break the land but harrow 
it well and immediately sow the timothy seed. With such preparation they claim 
they are able to secure a better stand than in any other manner. This result is no 
doubt largely dependent upon the character of the soil. 

"The yield of timothy hay on fertile valley lands sometimes reaches three or 
four tons an acre. It often attains a height of five feet, with heads from eight 
'inches to a foot in length. A bottom field lying on Red River in Montgomery 
county was sown by the writer in 1858 with a mixture of timothy and herd's grass. 
It was sown the latter part of September. The following summer thirty tons of 
excellent hay were sold from ten acres, and two or more tons were retained for 
home consumption. The soil of this meadow was a calcareous loam with a deep 
red, well-drained, unctious, clayey subsoil. The meadow lasted for twelve years 
and yielded heavy crops of hay every year, until it was finally plowed up to give 
place to a tobacco crop. 



30 Information for Home Seekers and Investors 

"Timothy is thought to be a great exhauster of the soil. This is doubtless 
true, but its capacity in this respect is not greater than that of Indian corn, wheat 
or tobacco. It has been well said that a crop that does not exhaust the soil is not 
worth gathering; that it is impossible to get from the soil something for nothing. 
The duty of every farmer is to restore to the soil, by commercial fertilizers or by 
home-made manures, some of the valuable nutritive elements that are taken from it 
by the crops." 

The same authority gives the following as to grasses in this country, and the 
number of species that are indigenous to Tennessee soil. This indicates very clearly 
that while timothy grass is grown successfully, it is only one of a great variety of 
grasses that thrive in Tennessee : 

"Between the Mississippi River and Atlantic Ocean there are known to exist 
about 295 species of grasses indigenous to the soil. Between the Mississippi River 
and the Rocky Mountains there are 190 species, 60 species belonging to that region 
exclusively. This makes a total of 355 species of grasses from the Rocky Mountains 
to the Atlantic Ocean. There are 250 that have been found between the Pacific 
Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, many of which are common to the other sections 
of country. It may, with confidence, be said that there are not less than 350 grasses 
indigenous to the United States. Nearly onc-lialf of these are found within the 
state of Tennessee. Many have been introduced and are cultivated in every part of 
the state, and some of the indigenous grasses also have been domesticated. A con- 
siderable percentage of them are valuable for making pastures and meadows, but 
others are unmitigated pests and worthless for any purpose whatever." 

Question No. 3. — Is the cow pea hay grown throughout the South considered 
equal to timothy? 

Questions similar to the above have come to this office fom a number of stock 
growers in Illinois and Iowa, who evidently are not willing to believe anything in 
the shape of hay is quite equal to timothy. Several years ago the writer attended 
a farmers' convention at Jackson, Mississippi, where Prof. S. M. Tracy, then 
Director of the Mississippi Agricultural Experiment Station, read a paper on native 
grasses. When he had finished his paper, a prominent Iowa dairyman in the 
audience said: "Prof. Tracy, can you really raise timothy in Mississippi?" 

"Yes, sir," was his reply. 

"Well, why don't you?" said the Iowa man. 

"Because, sir, we have something better," replied Prof. Tracy. 

The following table prepared by Prof. Tracy, and published in connection with 
Bulletin No. 40, which treated of the subject, "The Cow Pea," will be read with 
interest by all stock growers : 

"The quality of peavine hay compares favorably with that from red clover 
or any other leguminous plant, and is even richer in protein than are many of the 
common grain feeds. Jenkins and Wilton (Experiment Station Bulletin No. 11) 
give the averages of a large number of analyses as follows : 

Protein. Carbohydrates. Fat. 

Cow pea 16.6 47.7 2.4 

Red clover 12.3 38.1 ^.2, 

Timothy 5.9 45.0 2.5 

Corn 10.3 70.4 5.0 

Oats I1.8 59.7 5.0 

Wheat bran 15.4 53.9 4.0 

"The approximate feeding values of these materials per ton, as calculated by the 
Connecticut Experiment Station, are as follows : 



Information for Home Seekers and Investors 



31 



Cow pea $12.60 

Red clover , 1 1.20 

Timothy 10.48 

Corn 1772 

Oats 16.72 

Wheat bran 13.76 

"These figures make the values of the different crops, per acre, as follows : 

Cow pea, two tons $25.20 

Red clover, two tons 22.40 

Timothy, two tons 20.96 

Corn, fifty bushels 24.80 

Oats, forty bushels 10.71 

"Of course, the cash valuations given above are only approximations, as they 
are based on the average market prices for the different feeds during a series of 
years, while the actual farrm values will vary with the yields in different seasons, 
and with the local market. 

"The cow pea is one of the few crops which will yield an abundant crop of 
valuable hay and at the same time leave the soil on which it grew in an improved 
chemical and mechanical condition for a succeeding crop. It is the best 'catch crop' 
which can be grown for hay, and is, by far, the best crop which can be grown on 
land from which wheat, oats or other crops have been harvested. In cultivat- 
ing for hay, it is important to select varieties which will be in a condition for 
cutting early in October, as that gives the whole of the growing season for the 
production of a heavy crop, and brings the harvesting in the month when there 
is the least rain. If the crop is to have a long season for its growth, we prefer late 
ripening sorts, like the Black, Speckled Crowder, or Unknown; while if the plant- 
ing is done late in the season, we have secured better results by the use of early 
varieties, like the Red Crowder or the Whippoorwill. The value of the hay increases 
very rapidly as the crop approaches maturity ; while if allowed to become over 
ripe, many of the leaves drop and are lost, more or less of the seed will be shat- 
tered out and lost, and the hay secured is more hard and woody than when cut 
at the proper season. The best stage for cutting peavines for hay is when the first 

pods begin to ripen. 

When cut at that stage 
the vines cure much 
more easily and rapidly 
than when cut earlier, 
the total yield is at its 
heaviest, and, though 
the hay may not be 
quite so tender as when 
cut earlier, it will be 
eaten well and will have 
added much to its nu- 
tritive value." 

Question No 4. — 
What about the grasses 
and forage plants of 
Louisiana? 

Prof. W. R. Dodson, 
of the Louisiana Exper- 
iment Station, has an 
article on this question 
that may be considered Rust Proof Oats, Sown iu October, Photographed in April. 




32 Information for Home Seekers and Investors 

as authentic, and should be read with interest by every farmer, North or South, 
who aims to keep posted on agricuUural conditions as they relate to states through- 
out the Mississippi Valley. Prof. Dodson says : 

"Profit is generally measured in dollars. Now, is there any money saved or 
made by the farmer in growing his own forage, instead of buying it, when he lives 
in a cotton section? In order to answer this question from a comparison of data 
from an extended territory, I have tabulated the statistics of the United States 
government reports for the year 1900, covering the hay production of the various 
states. The statistics are based upon hay production, not only because they were 
the most available, but because they also furnish the fairest basis of comparison. 
They were collected by the Department of Agriculture at Washington, and are the 
most reliable to be had. Though they may not be satisfactorily accurate, they are 
relatively correct, when we compare one state with another. From these reports and 
the bulletins of the various agricultural experiment stations, I think it will be evident 
that the South, and Louisiana in particular, is neglecting opportunities in the way of 
forage production, not only in the way of supplying the home market, but also for 
stock raising. I do not believe any leading cotton state, save possibly one, produces 
all the hay necessary to supply its market, and yet there is not a single Southern 
state but what has given for the past few years a greater average tonnage per acre 
in forage crops than is the average of the states from which we buy. 

"According to the reports of 1900, Iowa produced more hay than any other 
state in the Union, followed closely by Kansas, then New York, Missouri and 
Nebraska. Since these states lead in total production, and each is pre-eminently 
a stock and forage state, it will not be unfair to make some comparisons between 
them and the South. In these tables the irrigated regions of the far West have 
been disregarded, and, therefore, they apply only to where natural conditions 
prevail. 

SOME HAY STATISTICS FOR THE YEAR IQOO. 

Av. Val. Av. Val. 

No. of Tons Yield Per Av. Farm Val. Per Milch Other 

Name of State Produced. Acre — ^Tons. Price. Acre. Cows. Cattle 

Iowa 5,006,470 1.42 $6.80 $ g.66 $34.10 $33-47 

Louisiana 50,802 2.00 9.40 18.80 21.95 13-37 

Kansas 4,031,461 

Alabama 94,061 

New York 3,35i,99i 

Texas 548,879 

Missouri 2,768,015 

Mississippi 99)922 

Nebraska 2,639,489 

Georgia 190,237 1.69 12.75 21.55 22.95 ii-07 

Average tonnage of five Northern and Western states leading in total hay 

production 1.24 tons 

Average of five cotton states given above 1.81 tons 

Average advantage of Southern states 57 tons 

"It will be seen that Georgia, holding fifth rank among the cotton states in hay 
production, produced 19 per cent more than does Iowa, which state not only leads 
i ntotal production, but yields more per acre than any other Northern or Western 
.state not under irrigation. The lowest yield of the five cotton states is more than 
twice the yield of New York. Yet New York takes third rank in total production 
of all the states. 

"The average tonnage of the five Northern states above given is 1.24 tons per 
acre. That of the five cotton states is 1.81 tons per acre, a difiference of .57 tons per 



1.32 


4-55 


6.01 


32.50 


28.90 


1-85 


10.55 


19-52 


18.40 


10.96 


.81 


1405 


11-38 


35-20 


27-45 


1.80 


6.80 


12.24 


25-25 


17.86 


1.29 


6.95 


8.97 


28.60 


26.55 


1-75 


9-95 


17.41 


20.75 


13-59 


1.38 


5-15 


7-II 


35-50 


30-38 



Information for Home Seekers and Investors 



33 



acre in favor of the South. This would be equal to 1,140 pounds, or 49 per cent 
more than the average of the hay section, so-called, of the United States. In mak- 
ing a list of ten states giving the largest yield per acre of hay, only one Northern 
state is included in the list. They are as follows : 



Louisiana 2.00 tons per acre 

Alabama 1.85 tons per acre 

Texas 1.80 tons per acre 

Mississippi 1.75 tons per acre 

Georgia 1.69 tons per acre 

Arkansas 1.63 tons per acre 

Iowa 1.42 tons per acre 

North Carolina 1.41 tons per acre 

Tennessee 1.40 tons per acre 

Kentucky ' 1.40 tons per acre 

"In the North they make a specialty of raising hay, while we do not. Most 
of the hay in the South is made as a secondary crop. Our cow pea hay is gathered 
from the corn fields, our crab grass where we cannot suppress it, our Bermuda 
and Lespedeza from lands that have been pastured till almost midsummer. Our 
superior yields are due solely to the gracious favors of nature and not to the skilful 
hand of the cultivator. In the South, when a man says he has made two tons of 
cow pea hay to the acre, he means general ylthat he got this in addition to his crop 
of corn, and that he left a goodly portion as fertilizer to the soil. In the North, 
when a man says he 
has made a ton and a 
half of hay to the acre, 
it generally means that 
that is everything the 
land produced that year, 
and it was raked clean 
to make that. In the 
North and West, the 
average acre value of 
hay on the farm is 
$8.62; in the South, 
$17.90. When we con- 
sider the plants produc- 
ing the bulk of the 
crops, we find that no 
leading hay plant of the 
South is so poor in nu- 
tritive elements as the 
popular timothy, from 

the North. 

"T" tVi 1 ■. ■ 11 Indian Corn in Louisiana. Photographed in July. 

ing in the markets of Baton Rouge for $20 a ton, while the finest Lespedeza, baled, 
goes from $14 to $15 a ton, and people buy timothy. Surely one must possess himself 
of patience to keep from exclaiming, 'Thou fool !' Still greater must we be for- 
bearing when we see this timothy fed with shelled corn to a working animal. Ten 
pounds of corn and ten pounds of Lespedeza hay come nearer giving a balanced 
daily ration for a working horse weighing a thousand pounds than will ten pounds 
of corn and fifteen pounds of timothy hay. In other words, when feeding corn, 
a ton of Lespedeza is worth as much as a ton and a half of timothy, and yet intel- 
ligent people will buy timothy. Allow me to give you some results from the 




34 Information for Home Seekers and Investors 

Louisiana Experiment Station. In October, igoo, we fertilized heavily with stable 
manure an acre and a tenth of bluff soil and sowed it in alfalfa. April 19, 1901, 
we cut and put in the barn 4,750 pounds of hay ; May 25, 2,420 pounds ; June 29, 2,220 
pounds; August 2, 2,020 pounds. At this season the grass worms destroyed the 
alfalfa, and we lost one cutting, or most of it; but on September 23 we harvested 
3,310 pounds of fine crab grass hay, and in October turned under a good covering 
of grass. A part of the alfalfa was sold for $15 a ton. All of it could have been sold 
at the same price. Supposing the hay to have lost ten per cent additional after it was 
put in the barn, we would still have 10,260 pounds of alfalfa and 3,000 pounds of 
crab grass hay. Putting the crab grass at $5 a ton, we have a money value for one 
and one-tenth acres of $82.50. I believe it is safe to say that the expense of cutting, 
curing and baling the hay was not greater than would be the expense of cultivating 
and marketing a bale of cotton. These results were obtained on soil not naturally 
adapted for alfalfa, but it was made fairly rich by stable manure. A team of horses 
will produce enough manure in a season, if properly cared for, to fertilize an acre 
for alfalfa, and if every farmer with a team would put in an acre of this forage 
plant and raise no other hay, the total output of hay of the South would be 
materially increased. It would stop this infernal custom of buying timothy and other 
poor grass hays produced in the North and West. 

"In 1898 Louisiana had within her borders 244,700 horses and mules. If an acre 
of alfalfa were planted for each team, and each acre would produce only four tons 
of hay, the product would be nearly 500,000 tons, or just ten times what is now 
produced. I believe every farmer in the South can have an acre of alfalfa if he 
wants it bad enough to go to the trouble to make that acre rich before he plants 
alfalfa on it. 

"But let us consider some other plants. At Baton Rouge, in October, 1900, we 
planted six acres in red clover. In the latter part of June we harvested 26,000 
pounds of clover hay and sold some of it for $15 a ton. All of it could have been 
sold at the same price. On the six acres six head of stock were pastured the rest 
of the summer, and in the latter part of August we cut over four tons of crab 
grass hay with a little clover in it, thereafter furnishing nne pasturage till plowed 
for re-seeding. Farmers about Baton Rouge are raising from two to three tons 
of Lespedeza to the acre. Lespedeza compares very favorably in chemical composi- 
tion with any of the leguminous forage plants. 

"But we have been considering the yield in tons. Let us consider for a moment 
the harvest of nutritive elements per acre. I shall fake the clover, the favorite of 
the North, and the cow pea, the most extensively cultivated legume of Louisiana. 
While as a matter of fact the cow pea gives a much larger yield per acre in three 
and a half to four months than the clover does in a year, to be liberal to the clover, 
we will suppose that the yield of the two is the same in pounds as it is hauled from 
the field. What is the relative amount of digestible nutrients that have been put 
away in each ton? A ton of clover hay contains about 206 pounds of protein and 
760 pounds of nitrogen free extract. A ton of pea vine hay contains 332 pounds of 
protein and 884 pounds of nitrogen free extract. To each acre producing two tons, 
the crop of cow peas gives 252 pounds of protein and 168 pounds of nitrogen free 
extract more than the clover. Lespedeza gives an analysis nearly the same as the 
cow pea except a little heavier in nitrogen free extract. The ether extract in all 
instances is ample, so it is not considered. Now, when you take into consideration 
the fact that a crop of oats can be raised before the cow peas are planted, it will be 
seen that the advantages are overwhelmingly in favor of Louisiana." 

In addition to the grasses and legumes already mentioned in this circular, it 
is unfortunate we cannot, for want of data, describe in detail other varieties, 
such as hairy vetch, velvet beans, bermuda and lepedeza, all of which are grown 
successfully in the Southern states. 



Information for Home Seekers and Investors 35 



SOILS OF KENTUCKY, TENNESSEE, MISSISSIPPI AND LOUISIANA. 

About the first information desired by an intelligent farmer contemplating a 
change of location is something authentic concerning the character of the soil in 
that particular part of the new country in which he expects to locate ; he must know 
about the average annual rainfall, the timber and fuel supply, and the climatic con- 
ditions, but above all he must knov/ what the soil can and does produce. 

Fortunately, the American farmer of today has facilities and opportunities for 
becoming acquainted with the soil and the use to which it is especially adapted, that 
were unknown a quarter of a century ago. This circular does not treat the subject 
of soils scientifically, but aims to emphasize the importance of it, and to make men- 
tion of some facts relating to the soils of Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and 
Louisiana. 

Western farmers accustomed to black prairie soil that rarely ever fails to pro- 
duce a crop are naturally prejudiced in favor of that color, and often will not be 
convinced, until a personal experiment has been made, that many of the clay soils 
of the four Southern states mentioned are equally as productive as the black soil of 
Illinois or Iowa. As a means of acquainting all who contemplate a change in 
location with the varieties of soil and the chemical analysis of the same in the states 
of Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana, we heartily recommend that an 
application be made to the Directors of the Agricultural Experiment Stations of the 
above states for a copy of a bulletin devoted exclusively to the subject of "Soil." 

Question No. i. — What is the area and character of the soil in what is known 
as the "Blue Grass country"? 

The Blue Grass Region, roughly described as lying north of a semicircular line 
drawn from Vanceburg to Louisville and passing through Junction City, and con- 
taining 8,186 square miles, is the blue and gray limestone area, the soil of which hys 
been formed by the decay of the underlying limestone and, to some extent, by inherit- 
ance from formations that were once above, but have been removed by erosion. This 
soil is remarkably deep and rich, the richest being that formed from the upper part 
of the oldest formation in the state and indeed in the Ohio Valley — the Trenton 
formation, a highly phosphatic limestone, furnishing by decay just those ingredients 
the blue grass needs in order to attain its greatest luxuriance and perfection of 
growth. This typical blue grass region contains about 1,062 square miles, and is 
included in the counties of Bourbon, Scott, Franklin, Woodford, Mercer, Boyle, Gar- 
rard, Jessamine and Fayette. The surface lying between 800 and 1,000 feet above the 
sea is gently rolling. It is pitted in some places by circular shaped depressions or 
sinks and small caves, and copiously gushing springs are frequent. The soil in 
Kentucky is the great heritage it has received from the past. The qualities of this in 
diflferent regions are different enough to stimulate the cultivation of a variety of 
crops, and the development of a diversity of industries closely related to them. 

Stock raising, particularly the breeding of fast horses, is the distinguishing 
industry of the blue grass counties. Tobacco is a staple product, especially in the 
limestone district in the Jackson Purchase jegion. Hemp is more extensively raised 
in the blue grass counties, and corn is grown wherever the blue grass is found. 

Question No. 2. — Where do we find in Kentucky the best soil for fruit culture? 

On the east, south and west of the blue grass region, as above described, is a 
strip of country diversified by conical-shaped sandstone hills, rising to a height of 
1,200 to 1,300 feet above the sea (300 to 400 feet above the surrounding country). 
These are detached outliers of a limestone capped plateau lying further back. In 
the west, the edge of this plateau presents toward the blue grass a continuous bold 
front, or escarpment, known as "Muldraugh's Hill." 

This formation seems to be especially adapted to fruit growing. Indeed the 
growing of apples and peaches on "Muldraugh's Hill," for shipment to Northern and 



36 Information for Home Seekers and Investors 

Eastern markets, has become quite an industry. For practical fruit growers who 
would make a specialty of this industry we do not know of a better place to recom- 
mend than the one above described, where lands suitable for this purpose are still 
in the market for $io per acre, and even less. 

Question No. 3. — Can the apparently zvorn-out lands of Tennessee be made 
productive F 

The Agricultural Experiment Station of Tennessee is trying to solve this ques- 
tion, as will be seen by the following, which appeared in a recent publication concern- 
ing the soils of Tennessee : 

"One who travels over the state, by rail or by country road, will see everywhere, 
in the richest as well as in the poorest sections, broad stretches of land so much 
worn as to be unproductive, and very many of such areas properly classed as aban- 
doned land. 'Old fields,' turned out to be gradually but surely reduced to utter 
barrenness, are unpleasantly numerous, not only in the mountainous region of East 
Tennessee, and along or near the escarpments of the highland rim of Middle 
Tennessee, but in the more level land of the great central basin of the state, and in 
those counties of West Tennessee most famed for rich and productive soil. The 
proportion of such land so much worn and so badly wasted as to make it impossible 
to restore it for any useful purpose, is much less than is suggested by superficial 
observation. In almost every instance these 'old fields,' when cleared from the forest, 
were chosen by the farmers of that day as the best lands in their possession. Their 
judgment was doubtless well founded. There are tens of thousands of acres which 
are beyond redemption save by reforestation, but of the immense area now regarded 
as abandoned land, not one-twentieth is beyond hope of recovery by timely efforts. 

"The problem is to maintain the productiveness of the best lands under cultiva- 
tion, and such as are used for orchard, garden, meadow, pasture and woodland ; 
to restore such areas as are now considered unprofitable, and to determine, if we 
can, the best, surest, and quickest ways to these ends. Plainly one of the things to 
be done is to find out all the facts as to the composition, physical and chemical, of 
soils such as were in the first instance chosen by old and skillful common-sense 
farmers. This can be done best by an investigation of the virgin soils. 

"The soil is not a mere mass of inert, dead matter, but a theater of ceaseless 
activities," — a wonderful combination of mechanical, chemical and vital energies, — 
of agencies destructive and reconstructive — of an ever repeated cycle of death and 
resurrection. 

"Soils in forest or prairie, unaltered by the influence of man, are, as to their 
mechanical as well as chemical constitution, in every way best adapted to the 
healthful growth of the vegetation found native thereon. If it may be possible in 
any way to maintain a virgin soil in as perfect condition as we find it, we may easily 
enjoy all the 'fruits of the earth' with almost as little labor as was demanded of 
Adam in his first home ; but this is as improbable as is a return to thie innocence 
and blessedness of Paradise. But we may realize, in some measure, a Paradise 
Regained. Who will labor with brain as well as body, with heart and head, doing 
what is prompted and directed by right thinking, may approach the beauties, and 
enjoy much of the happiness, of the garden which 'the Lord God planted eastward 
in Eden.' " 

It is fair to say, in connection with this subject, that very little of the so-called 
worn-out lands of Tennessee are to be found on or adjacent to the Illinois Central 
Railroad. West Tennessee, or at least that portion of it within sight of the Illinois 
Central trains, shows a soil adapted to the successful cultivation of winter wheat, 
oats, corn, vegetables and fruits. Indeed, the annual products of the soil in that 
region attest its productiveness. The clay hills, as well as the alluvial valleys, under 
even fairly good cultivation, produce abundant crops. 

Question No. 4. — What is the character of the prairie soil of East Mississippi? 

The prairie lands in East Mississippi, known during the Civil War as the "Corn 



Information for Home Seekers and Investors 37 

Field of the Confederacy," consist of comparatively large amounts of clay, lime and 
humus, which determine their texture. As a rule, they are rich in potash and phos- 
phoric acid, though there are small areas that do not contain large amounts of these 
substances. These lands do not take kindly to commercial fertilizers, and farmers 
and planters in that section have abandoned their use entirely. Melilotus, cow peas 
and clover are used on any of the lands that have become non-productive through 
improper tillage, or through cultivation of cotton for a long term of years Northern 
farmers who visit the South are quick to see the efifect of non-rotation of crops. 
It is not unusual to see fields that for fifty consecutive years have been cropped in 
cotton, with soil that from appearances is anything but fertile; and while such 
conditions do not speak well for the farmer, they do demonstrate that the soil is far 
better than its color would indicate. The prairie region of East Mississippi will, in 
time, become known to Northern investors, and the character and fertility of the soil 
will make it a favored section for immigration. 

Question No. 5. — What is the character of the Mississippi Delta soil? 

The soil of the Mississippi Delta varies, but that portion lying between the north 
line of the state of Mississippi and the city of Vicksburg, and between the YazoO' and 
Mississippi rivers, is an alluvial deposit that for ages has been accumulating from 
the annual overflow of the Mississippi river. These deposits came from the fertile 
lands of all the states bordering on the Ohio, Missouri and upper Mississippi rivers. 
The Delta country referred to, one hundred and sixty miles in length by about sixty 
in width, being lower than the river, became a natural basin for this deposit, and 
the result is a soil from five to ten feet deep, contributed by Minnesota, Wisconsin, 
Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Missouri, Ohio, and other states, and so fertile that a bale 
of cotton or fifty bushels of corn per acre, without the use of an ounce of fertilizer, 
is not an unusual yield. For sixty years these lands have been partially protected 
from overflow, but until within the past twenty years the levees were crude, indeed 
they were little more than artificial mud banks ; but today, through government 
appropriations and government supervision, assisted by the State Levee Boards, a 
system of levees has been established which protects the Delta lands except during 
years of great floods, and the soil is so very fertile that even when there comes a 
year of overflow, as soon as the water recedes the farmer puts in his crop with good 
results. Nowhere in the United States is there another area of equal size so fertile 
and productive as the region above referred to, and many who read this circular 
will live to see these lands fully developed and commanding a ready sale at $100.00 
per acre. 

Question No. 6. — Can the soils of the uplands, or hill country, of the South, 
he restored? 

Prof. Wm. C. Stubbs, director of the Louisiana Experiment Station, has 
furnished an article on this subject that covers so completely every phase of it, 
that we publish it in full : 

"A careful investigation of the uplands of the Southern States will show that 
the constant culture of cotton and other hoed crops has almost depleted the store 
of humus originally present in these soils, and with it has disappeared the original 
supply of nitrogen. Without an abundance of nitrogen no soils will grow grasses 
successfully, and without a supply of humus in a soil all crops, especially the grasses, 
will be more or less effected by a drouth, even of short duration. Since the entire 
South is turning its attention to the growing of stock, raising of beef, mutton, pork, 
etc., for the markets, the old adage, 'More grass, more cattle ; more cattle, more 
manure, and the more manure, more grass,' seems to be an appropriate shibboleth 
of every Southern farmer at this particular crisis in our agricultural history. 

"It is impossible to make successful pasturages, or grow large grass crops, upon 
our poor uplands until their fertility has been restored. Nitrogen, the chief ingredient 
required by all grass crops, is the costly constituent of all commercial fertilizers, 
and is the valuable element in stable and home-made manures, including our cotton 



38 



Information for Home Seekers and Investors 




Stuyvesant Docks, New Orleans, La. 

seed and cotton seed meal, and, as before recited, is wanting generally in all of the 
uplands of this State. It is worth, according to the tariff of prices now adopted in 
this State, fifteen cents per pound in commercial fertilizers. At this price it is almost 
prohibitory to most of our farmers. But, fortunately, nature has provided for us a 
way by which we can store up this element in our soils in large quantities at a mere 
nominal cost. Leguminous crops have been used from time immemorial as renova- 
tors of soils and for furnishing valuable food material for civilized man and domestic 
animals. Even the wild deer of our forests finds the larger part of his support in 
the wild legumes of our woods and swamps, beggar lice, wild peas, etc. 

"This family of plants is a very large one, and every civilized country has 
adopted one or more of them for feed and fertilizing purposes. They all have nodules 
on their roots, filled with microbes, which, while they draw much of their support 



Information for Home Seekers and Investors 39 

from the plants upon which they live, yet supply themselves, in a manner not yet 
clearly understood, with nitrogen drawn directly from the air. Having only an 
ephemeral existence, they are rapidly absorbed at death by the host plant, which 
utilizes not only the plant food which these microbes have taken from the plant 
during their short existence, but also the nitrogen which they have directly appro- 
priated from the air. In this way a leguminous crop, through the microbes on the 
roots, will gather during tlie season of its growth an almost incredible amount of 
nitrogen. The microbes are simply purveyors for their hosts, of nitrogen, taking it 
from the great reservoir of nature, the air (which contains four-fifths of its volume 
of free nitrogen), and uUimately transferring it to the plant with which it lives in 
symbiotic union. The agriculturist of today, even the most advanced in theory and 
practice, fails to appreciate in its fullest measure this wonderful providence of nature 
and a clear discrimination of its use, as is demonstrated daily by the investigations 
of science, in the selection of plants best adapted to his environment. 

"Only by the practice of planting leguminous crops can we hope to economically 
and profitably restore the nitrogenous matter to our soils, and only by the study of 
the composition, individuality and adaptability to our surroundings of the various 
leguminous crops, can we select one or more which will accomplish the above result 
in the shortest time. Fortunately, we have in the South several excellent crops of 
the leguminous family to select from. 

"It should be remembered, however, in the cultivation of these crops, that only 
nitrogen is gathered from sources exterior to the soil. Whatever of phosphoric acid, 
potash or lime is needed by these plants must be obtained from the soil. If the 
latter be deficient in any of these ingredients, they must be supplied before large 
crops can be produced. It is true that the usually long tap roots of this family of 
plants, penetrating to deeper depths, will draw upon the subsoil for supplies unavail- 
able to ordinary crops with fibrous surface roots, and these apparently, at first, show 
no want of mineral fertilizer; but the safest and best procedure, demonstrated by 
abundant experience, is to apply, liberally, mineral manures (especially acid phos- 
phate in this State) to the leguminous crop before planting. By so doing you place 
within easy reach of the growing plant every element in abundance, save nitrogen, 
and this, under such favorable conditions, it will get in largest possible quantities 
from the air. 

"Leguminous crops must be the foundation stones upon which the future pros- 
perous agriculture of the uplands of the South must be built. 

"Alfalfa, crimson and red clover, lespedeza, hairy vetch, Spanish peanuts, cow 
peas, velvet beans, etc., are all valuable crops, adaptable to different portions of 
the South. 

"Other things being equal, that crop which will produce the largest amount of 
nitrogen, obtained from the air in a given time, is the best crop to grow for fertilizing 
purposes. Usually, too, that crop containing the largest amount of nitrogen is best for 
feeding purposes, and it is always advisable, wherever there is stock to be fed, to 
utilize the crop as stock feed, rather than to turn it under as green manure. But 
when fed, the manure fi"om the animals should be carefully preserved, and scrupu- 
lously and intelligently returned to the soil. By intelligently growing the proper 
crops, and feeding them m proper combinations to live stock, it is possible to improve, 
gradually, a farm, and, at the same time, profitably raise a large number of stock. 
Only by such action can the worn lands of the South be restored and made adaptable 
to profitable stock raising." 

MARKET FACILITIES. 

No matter how fertile the soil of a country may be, nor how enormous the crops 
it will produce, if such products cannot be quickly and cheaply marketed they have 
little commercial value, and the value of the land is indeterminate except from a 



40 Information for Home Seekers and Investors 

speculative standpoint. Everj' farmer should consider carefully the market facilities 
of a section of country new^ to him before locating or investing there, and it is to 
such men that this circular is addressed, with a view to giving a brief description 
of the shipping facilities afforded by the Illinois Central and Yazoo & Mississippi 
Valley Railroads to shippers located, or who may locate, at points along those lines 
in the South. 

New Orleans and Memphis. 

Memphis, Tennessee, with a population of 125,000, is the greatest interior cotton 
market, and one of the great lumber markets in the United States. It is also 
one of the most enterprising cities in the country, and is very rapidly growing, both 
industrially and in population. Memphis is a great railroad center. It has the 
Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf, the FriscO' System, the Louisville & Nashville, the 
Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis, the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern, the 
St. Louis Southwestern, and the Southern Railroads. It is the northern terminus 
of the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad, and is on the main line of the Illinois 
Central, between Chicago and New Orleans, furnishing a fine local market for all 
farm products grown at points on either of these lines in the states of Kentucky, 
West Tennessee or Mississippi. 

New Orleans, Louisiana, with a population of 325,000, is the second port in the 
United States, and the greatest cotton market in the world. No less thna 2,316,906 
bales of cotton — nearly 25 per cent of the entire crop of the United States — were 
handled at that point last year. It is the southern terminus of both the Illinois 
Central and Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroads, and to handle the vast amount of 
grain exported through that port, the Central Mississippi Valley Route has, at Stuy- 
vesant Dock, one elevator with a capacity of 1,500,000 bushels; and another with a 
capacity of 1,000,000 bushels, grain being unloaded from the cars at the same time 
that vessels are taking on their cargoes. The wharves at New Orleans, which are 
used in connection with the export trade of these two lines of road, cover three and 
one-half miles of river front ; and at "Harahan Yards," about three miles beyond 
th'e city limits, they have more than another mile of river front. 

In addition to these home markets — Memphis and New Orleans — shippers at 
points on the lines of the Illinois Central and Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroads 
have the advantages of direct lines of roads to St. Louis, gateway to Kansas City 
and a vast portion of the west; Louisville gateway to the east; and to Chicago, 
St. Paul, Omaha, Sioux City, Sioux Falls, and the north and northwest. Also a 
double track, or two tracks (which is practically the same thing so far as the expe- 
ditious handling of through freight is concerned), the entire distance from New 
Orleans to Chicago. 

The depletion of northern forests has caused a great increase in the demand for 
.southern lumber, and this, together with the first-class shipping facilities already at 
hand, is certain to be the cause of a rapid, increase in the value of timber lands along 
the Southern lines of the Central Mississippi Valley Route, within the next few years. 

Facilities for ]\Iarketing Perishable Products. 

The proper handling of fruits and garden truck for the northern markets has for 
years received special attention from the management of the Illinois Central Railroad, 
and the service provided for such shipments is as nearly perfect as it can be made. 
The following description of the methods used will be found interesting: 

The earliest shipments are from Louisiana and usually begin in February. These 
are handled by the Express Company. The express charges are, of course, much 
higher than freight charges, but the early shipments bring such high prices that the 
shipper can well afford to pay them. In addition to regular baggage cars which do 



Information for Home Seekers and Investors 



41 




not require ice, the Express Company also provides refrigerator cars equipped for 
nnssenier train service, which are handled on passenger trams. 
' These cas have ice boxes with a capacity of from eight to ten tons, which a e 
filled ;:^th Tel not at the expense of the shipper as is the case m -me P-ts of 1^ 
country but by the railroad company at regular icmg stations and the cars tnen sem 
SX^'oig station. After being loaded, they are re-iced at the first icmg station. 



42 Information for Home Seekers and Investors 

and as much ice added en route as may be necessary to properly protect the ship- 
ments, and all at the expense of the company. Icing stations are located at McComb, 
Crystal Springs, Canton, Jackson, and Water Valley, Mississippi ; Jackson, Tenn., 
and Mounds, Illinois. For the first few weeks, the shipments run from two or three 
to seven cars per week. Schedules are arranged so that shipments from all stations 
are picked up each day and adjusted to get the shipments to destination at the best 
market hours, and in the quickest possible time consistent with safety. As many 
as seven extra express cars can be handled on a passenger train in addition to the 
regular equipment. When shipments amount to more than seven cars, special trains 
are run. 

As soon as the volume of business warrants, fruit trains are put on, — this freight 
service being inaugurated about April lo of each year. These trains, for the hand- 
ling of local shipments of fruit and vegetables, in addition to equipment for car load 
shipments, also provide separate cars for less than car load lots. Fruit sheds are 
provided at various stations, and platforms for the handling of cabbage, etc., and 
the trains stop at platforms for large and small shipments alike. These shipments 
from local stations are consolidated at district terminal points, and solid fruit trains 
run through to destination on "manifest" (fast freight) schedules. The principal 
fruits and vegetables handled by these trains are as follows : 



Strawberries, 


Beets, 


Tomatoes, 


Parsley, 


Peaches, 


Potatoes, 


Corn, 


Lettuce, 


Plums, 


Cucumbers, 


Asparagus, 


Onions. 


Cantaloupe, 


Carrots, 


Radishes, 




Pears, 


Peas, 


Beans, 





The Illinois Central Railroad Company owns and operates 1,890 refrigerator 
cars and 1,806 fruit cars, which is ample equipment for handling the great fruit and 
vegetable traffic of this Company, that has nearly all developed within the past 
twenty years. Certain varieties of fruits and vegetables are handled every day in 
the year, but as a rule the great bulk of fruit and vegetable shipments from southern 
states is moved within a period of three months. 

Handling Shipments in Chicago. 

All fruit trains are scheduled to arriev in Chicago at an early hour in the morn- 
ing. The Illinois Central fruit warehouse in Chicago is located at the foot of South 
Water street, about half a mile from the intersection of Dearborn and South Water 
streets, which is the center of the fruit and vegetable commission district. Many of 
the trains arrive at the platform and the fruit and vegetables are delivered to the 
receivers long before the people of Chicago are astir. South Water street at that 
time is perfectly clear, and teams make delivery at the store doors within ten minutes 
after leaving the freight yard. The fruit platform will accommodate thirty-eight 
cars at a time, and deliveries can be made at the same time to every receiver on the 
street. During the height of the fruit and vegetable season, just as soon as one train 
is unloaded it is pulled out of the way and another placed for unloading. 

The terminal facilities of the Illinois Central at Chicago are unsurpassed, and 
are fully adequate for the prompt and satisfactory handling of its immense fruit and 
vegetable traffic. 

Conclusion. 

From the foregoing it will be seen that it is not on account of inadequate ship- 
ping facilities that the lands along the lines of the Illinois Central and Yazoo & 
Mississippi Valley Railroads in the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and 
Louisiana, are as cheap as they are today. It is simply further evidence to prove 



Information for Home Seekers and Investors 43 

that these fertile lands have not yet reached their proper values, and that they ofifer 
better opportunities, both for homeseekers and legitimate (not speculative) land 
investments, than any other part of the country. 

The cuts appearing in this circular simply illustrate the enormous expenditures 
of the Illinois Central Railroad Company in furnishing proper equipment for the 
handling of farm products, both en route and at destination, and these shipping facili- 
ties should be carefully considered by the homeseeker or land investor; for upon 
this depends, very largely, his measure of success. 

SOUTHERN IMMIGRATION. 

The question of immigration is an important one. The United States, with its 
now 80,000,000 of people, owes more to immigration than we are willing to admit, 
and if we may believe reports as published in the daily press, the year 1903 will excel 
all others in the number of foreign immigrants who will come to our shores with a 
view of becoming permanent citizens of the United States. For years writers upon 
the subject of immigration have insisted that the natural course of immigration was 
along latitudinal lines — a theory that, in a general way, is correct, but it is not 
absolute. Southern California is settled up by people from Iowa, Minnesota and 
other Northern states. The same may be said of Texas ; Florida is largely inhabited 
by those from Northern latitudes; and just now Western and Northern people are 
pouring into Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana, where any number of their 
neighbors have been pleasantly and prosperously located for years, and have demon- 
strated by actual experience that neither the climate, health, habits of the people, 
water supply, or any other characteristics of the South, or of Southern people, are 
such as to hinder any Northern family from immigrating to that section of the 
country. It is true that the conditions in the South are in some respects unlike 
those of the North; it is also true that different conditions are found by those 
immigrating from the East to the middle West, or from the middle West to the 
extreme West. These things are understood and expected by immigrants ; and the 
statement is made without fear of contradiction that families from the North need 
have no hesitancy in settling in the South. Of course, people from the North are 
more congenial to those from the North. This is natural. Therefore, if a suitable 
place can be found where a Northern settlement has already been started, where 
schools taught by Northern teachers are already established, and where civic and 
church organizations have already been founded, it will, perhaps, be pleasanter for 
the Northern immigrant to locate there than in a neighborhood where there are no 
Northern people. This, however, must not be considered absolutely necessary, for 
it is not. The Southern people are genial and hospitable, and are ready to welcorpe 
Northern people with honest intentions who may locate among them. 

Southern immigration is no longer an experiment. Not a day passes that 
Northern families are not crossing the Illinois Central bridge at Cairo, destined to 
points in the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana, and pleasant 
letters are received from them, expressing their satisfaction, and often their delight, 
at being so happily located. 

Question No. i. — What is considered the best time of year for Northern 
people to move South? 

Whenever they are ready. The same general rules should be observed 
in moving South as to the West or Southwest, except it should be kept in mind that 
spring work in the South begins in January or February, instead of March or April, 
as in the Western states. As a rule, families do not think of moving West in the 
summer time, and they should not go South at that time ; not simply because of 
the warm weather, but for the reason that the conditions at that season of the year 
are unfavorable for beginning work on a new farm. The very best month in the 
year to locate in the South is, in our judgment, November, for the following reasons : 



44 Information for Home Seekers and Investors 




Illinois Central Fruit House, Chicago, Showing Front and West Side. Scene at 6:00 
a. ni., at Fruit Platform, on East Side of the Fruit House. 

The weather at that time is. perfect; the crops, with the exception of cotton and 
sugar cane, have all been gathered; and it is an excellent time for building, repair- 
ing, building fences, and a general clearing up before the winter rains, preparatory 
to the winter or early spring crops. 



Information for Home Seekers and Investors 45 

Question No. 2. — Where should Northern people locate in the South f 

In the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi or Louisiana. This 
reply may provoke a smile— but wait ! These four Southern states are traversed 
by the Illinois Central Railroad, which runs direct to New Orleans, Memphis, 
Cincinnati, St. Louis, Chicago, St. Paul, Sioux City, Sioux Falls, and Omaha, 
furnishing the very best possible market facilities for all farm products. It is a 
well known fact that that company gives more attention to the careful handling of 
perishable products than any transportation company in the world. It is also well 
known that these states have a variety of soil that grows successfully, a great 
diversity of field crops, vegetables and fruits, so that a farmer may suit his location 
to the kind of crops he desires to cultivate. 

Another point of advantage is the facilities for going back and forth between 
the North and the South. During the winter months the friends from the North 
visit those in the South, and vice versa. If located on the line of the Illinois Central 
the trip is an easy one. For instance, by leaving Chicago after supper tonight, you 
take breakfast in Tennessee tomorrow morning, you dine in Mississippi, and have 
an early supper in Louisiana ; and this trip can be made in free reclining chair cars, 
or Pullman sleepers, without change. Similar service is also available northbound. 

Another excellent reason for locating on the Illinois Central Railroad is the 
fact that the country is being settled up by an unusually well-to-do and intelligent 
class of people. The writer has been going in and out among them for twenty-three 
years, under all circumstances and at all times of the year, and has found them 
worthy of respect and admiration. In the territory mentioned will be found churches 
of every denomination, and schools that are progressive and up-to-date. So great 
has been the change in many respects within the past twenty years that the line 
drawn by the Ohio river between North and South has become quite indistinct and 
from some points of view almost entirely obliterated. 

Question No. 3. — Slioald iiiiriiigranfs from the North take their stock and farm 
machinery with them? 

Horses, hogs, calves and chickens may be taken South, but in the 
shipment of homed cattle there is a percentage of risk, unless the shipper cares to 
be at the expense of having them vaccinated. Two years ago Prof. Wm. C. Stubbs, 
Director of the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station, purchased a fine herd 
of cattle at Clinton, Illinois. The writer propounded this question, "How many of 
these do you expect to lose?" "Not one of them," was his reply. "We shall vaccinate 
them as soon as they reach the station, and will lose none of them." Unless the 
party contemplating a Southern move has a fine herd that he does not care to part 
with, and is willing to try the vaccination process, we would recommend that his 
horned cattle be sold, and others purchased in the South that are already acclaimed. 

In the matter of farm machinery, there are many things in use in the North, 
such as reapers, mowers, hay rakes, harrows, etc., that can be used in the South ; but 
in the matter of plows and cultivators, it would be well to address a letter to some 
Northern farmer v/ho has been located in the South for several years, and get the 
benefit of his experience as to the kinds of plows best adapted to Southern soil and 
the cultivation of Southern crops. 

Question No. 4.— Which of the four states mentioned claims the most Northern 
people? 

This is a disputed question. Tennessee has a largf number of people 
who formerly lived north of the Ohio river. Some of her large cities, such as 
Chattanooga, Memphis and Nashville, have of late years had large accessions of 
Northern people. But the same may be said of Louisiana. My judgment is that 
within the past ten years more Northern farmers have located in Louisiana than in 
any other of the four states, and this is due to the fact that lands in Northern 
Louisiana are very cheap, and especially adapted to vegetable gardening for early 



46 



Information for Home Seekers and Investors 



shipments to Northern markets, and the large acreage now cultivated in rice by 
Northern farmers. The states of Kentucky and Mississippi, however, are fast 
coming to the front in the matter of Northern settlers. Kentucky is a v/onderful 
state for diversified farming, and Mississippi, as an all-around agricultural state, has 
no superior. The low priced alluvial lands of Mississippi will soon be eagerly 
sought after by Northern men who are quick to see and to invest where there are 
promises of good returns. 

We desire to emphasize a few points in connection with this question of South- 
ern Immigration. Never locate anywhere until you have personally examined all 
the conditions that enter into the making of a pleasant home. Take no man's word 
for the quality of the soil in a farm you are about to purchase. See it yourself and 
test it by every rule so well known to farmers. Be careful and locate where the 
water is good, and plenty of it. Look well to your titles. Do not let anyone con- 
vince you that stock does not need food and shelter in the South during the winter 
months — it is not true. Locate as near as possible to some station on. the line of 




Farm Home of H. C. Ward, Greenfield, Tennessee, Who Moved 
from Near St. Joseph, Michigan, in 1886. 



the Illinois Central or'Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroads. Do not expect to make 
a fortune the first year. Pursue the same methods of farm attractiveness as you 
did in the North. Don't hesitate to question Southern planters — they may be able 
to give you some valuable pointers. Resolve to succeed, and give the same amount 
of energy to the Southern as you did to the Western farm. Consider that human 
nature is much the same everywhere, and that the opportunities for making a 
delightful and successful home are no better anywhere than in the States of Ken- 
tucky, Tennessee, Mississippi or Louisiana. 



Information for Home Seekers and Investors 47 

LETTERS FROM NORTHERN FARMERS. 

For several years the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana 
have been persistently, advertised, and as a natural result many Northern home- 
seekers have, after examining all the conditions, located at various points in these 
states on the lines of the Illinois Central and Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroads. 
Their experience as to the opportunities for establishing permanent and happy homes 
in the South ought to be valuable testimony. We have, therefore, collected a number 
of letters from responsible men, who tell their own stories in their own way, and 
over their own signatures. We commend these letters to the careful reading not only 
of those seeking new homes but also of any who have money to invest in farm lands. 
More men within twenty-five years have made money, and made it easier, in the 
advance in farm lands than in any other way. Lands in the South are still in the 
market at low prices. Lands that when properly cultivated will produce from $50 
to $100 per acre annually are sold for $5 to $25 per acre. Such conditions cannot 
last. Thousands of tenant farmers throughout the Northwest, who make little in 
excess of their annual living and expenses, can, by locating in the South, do what 
has been and is being done by the men who wrote the letters as they appear in this 
circular. The South is no place for a lazy man, but a man who wants a pleasant and 
comfortable farm home, who' loves his home and his farm, who enjoys working 
better than loafing in town, who keeps pace with new methods in farming, in new 
machinery, best breeds of cattle, best varieties of forage plants, fertilizers best 
adapted to his soil, best markets, etc., will succeed. To such men we extend a 
most cordial invitation to visit the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and 
Louisiana. Seeing is believing, and in nothing should one exercise greater care than 
in the selection of a new home. After reading this circular, please hand it to your 
neighbor. 

Duncan, Mississippi, September 28, 1903. 
Capt. J. F. Merry, A. G. P. A., I. C. R. R., Dubuque, Iowa. 

Dear Sir: I came to Duncan. Mississippi, in October, 1897, from Tuscola, 
Illinois. Tuscola is in th'at black belt of Illinois, where land is now worth from 
$130 to $150 per acre, and rents for $6 per acre. I drove through from Illinois and 
brought four horses and a wagon. I had about $250 in money after making my 
first payment on 160 acres of land, bought of the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Rail- 
road company. I cleared up and put into cultivation, in 1898, seventy-five acres, 
which I put into cotton and corn. Both were very good crops. Since that time I 
have farmed and have never failed to raise a good crop of cotton and corn and 
vegetables. In this respect this country reminds me of the black belt of Illinois, 
where failures in crops are not known. 

I farm some by day labor, some by share croppers, and some by renters. I 
have gotten as hig^ as $8 per acre rent, but $7 is the regular rent. My share crops 
bring me from $10 to $25 per acre, owing to the way the tenants work it, the 
season, etc. 

I am now working 140 acres in corn, 160 in cotton, and 140 in stock peas. The 
balance of the 500 acres on which I live is in the woods, orchard, lawns and lots. I 
have another 160 acres, on which I first located, which rents for $7 per acre; taxes 
on same are $16.50 per annum. Corn raisers from Illinois who have seen my com 
during the past week estimate it at from 50 to 60 bushels per acre. Cotton raisers 
estimate my cotton at from one-half bale per acre in poorest crops to one and one- 
half bales per acre in the best, averaging about a bale. I raised 50 acres of oats this 
year, which were a little short, but well headed. My wife put up blackberries, 
peaches, pears, etc., to the amount of 150 quarts. I have never seen better fruit 
than grows here. Also, any kind of vegetables grow to perfection, such as egg 
plant, cabbages, onions, potatoes, pumpkins, squashes, etc., and all kinds of small 
vegetables. 



48 Information for Home Seekers and Investors 

I married at Danville, Illinois, in 1898, and brought my wife here, where we 
have lived ever since. We have one child, a boy; four years old in October. The 
health of my family has been splendid — I think better than in Illinois. 

I would say to men who have money to invest, that this land is the safest place 
to invest that I know of, as it not only brings a big interest on the money invested, 
but it steadily increases in value — but never booms and goes back. I bought raw 
knds in 1897 at $7 per acre. Today I would not offer them at $50 per acre, for 
in ten years they will be selling for $100 per acre, judging from the past six years, 
and also from the fact that land that will rent like this, and bring the income that 
this land will, and being the best naturally drained land, cannot stay at $50 per 
acre, for there is too much money in Illinois and other Northern states that is not 
bringing such interest on the same security. I built a gin plant last year that cost 
$12,000. It made a net profit of $3,200 last year. I have 660 acres of land, besides 
personal property. This property is not for sale, but I would not take $50,000 and 
turn it all over. I believe the Delta is only in its infancy. Very respectfully, 

W. R. Baughman. 

RosELAND, Louisiana, September 30, 1903. 
Capt. J. F. Merry, Dubuque, Iowa. 

Dear Sir: Pursuant to your request for a letter from me, would say, I came 
to this place thirteen years ago from Kalamazoo, Michigan. I had been confined 
closely in an office for years and was in miserable health when I arrived. Nearly 
three weeks were spent in bed, after arrival. I soon began to gain, not by taking 
medicines, however. The splendid soft well water and piney woods air quickly 
restored me to good health. I now weigh 168 pounds. Since coming here we have 
not spent to exceed $10 on doctor's bills for a family of five. Previous to coming 
I had spent several seasons in Southern California, but regard this as a much 
superior and more healthful climate than that. 

I have been also blessed in a financial way. After I had been here a few years 
I began the growing of truck for the Northern markets and have succeeded very 
well indeed, having made some money each year, the past year having been the 
best of them all. I only cultivate about fifteen acres in vegetables, but from those 
acres I make more clear money than is made from many of the best 160 acre farms 
in Michigan. One can clear $100 per acre or more per annum on early vegetables, 
and then raise a second crop of hay, corn, cotton, etc., the second crop often paying 
for raising the first. With a small cash capital, energy, a good education and push. 
there is no valid reason why a small farm in this section should not pay for itself 
every year, especially when land can be bought for from $5 to $25 per acre, owing 
to location and improvements. As an instance of what can be done and was done 
this year, would say that I know of a party who, from two and three-fourths acres 
of cabbage, this year sold gross $1,780 worth ; after paying freight, commission and 
drayage, he had $1,190 left. On this same cabbage land he planted, June 3, corn, 
which is now ripe and ready to gather. This corn will yield fifty ubshels per acre, 
which, at sixty cents per bushel, gives $30 per acre more. This single instance will 
give an idea of what can be done. I believe in diversifying crops, so if one fails all 
will not he lost, for some crops of vegetables fail, but not always the same one 
each year. We have mostly Northern people here, have a good public school eight 
months in the year, good churches, and Christian people. 

Now do not think everybody that comes here succeeds or is pleased. Some 
fail (as they do everywhere), they do not have the patience to adapt themselves to 
a new soil, climate and conditions. A new-comer must learn to farm over again, 
as it were. Western methods will not always do to follow here, but new methods 
can easily be learned, no one needs to fail if he will listen to reason and the expe- 
rience of others. This is a banner year for Louisiana, crops are good and the 



Information for Home Seekers and Investors 



49 




Private Fish Pond on a Louisiana Farm. 

price of cotton high. Much new land will be brought into cultivation for next year. 
I trust this will satisfy the desires you had in mind when you made your request. 

Respectfully yours, 

C. A. Tiebout. 



Canton, Mississippi, September 22, 1903. 
Capt. J. F. Merry, A. G. P. A., I. C. R. R., Dubuque, Iowa. 

Dear Sir: Your friend, Mr. W. L. Dinkins, of this place, requests that I write 
you, giving my experiences and impressions of this country. Replying, will state 
that I came from Indiana to Canton, Madison county, Mississippi, in the fall of 
1902, and bought 80 acres of land two miles from Canton, which had not been cul- 
tivated for fifteen years. I put out five acres in strawberries and ten acres in 
peaches, and plowed my land broadcast for spring planting. Then, having plenty 
of leisure time, I proceeded to build a good barn and comfortable residence, which 
I moved into in January of the present year. My berries will be in full bearing next 
spring, from which I feel quite sure of realizing $200 per acre net. My orchard of 
peach trees will bear some next year and will be quite a profitable crop in 1905. 
I don't know of any country in the world where they raise finer peaches. I am told 
by experienced fruit growers that they realize from $300 to $500 profit per acre on 
Alberta peaches. I have raised a fine crop of corn that will average 40 bushels per 
acre; have a fine crop of sweet potatoes, and the greatest abundance of very fine 
hay, worth from $10 to $15 a ton right here at home. I measured a half acre of 
this land, to which I had planted cow peas, gathered ten bushels of peas, worth 
$1.50 per bushel, and got 1,606 pounds of the finest hay you ever saw from the same 
vines, worth $10 — giving me $20 returns from the half acre, with an expense of not 
more than $5. After the hay has been taken off the land, the fertilizing properties 
of the roots and the pea vines will almost double the yield of any kind of crop the 



so Information for Home Seekers and Investors 

next year. I am not trying to raise cotton, inasmuch as I find I can make more off 
^my land in fruit, berries, corn, oats and hay than can be realized from cotton, with 
less than half the labor and expense. I have some fine meadows of native grasses, 
from which I get a ton of good hay, worth $io per ton, per acre. This from land 
that cost me $17.50 per acre. 

I came to Canton, Mississippi, badly crippled and sorely afflicted with rheu- 
matism, from which I had been a sufferer for several years. After reaching here 
I stopped all medicine and kept out of doors every day. I am now well and strong — ■ 
in fact, feel better than I have for ten years ; can do as much work in a day as a 
stout negro. I am happy and delighted with my purchase, having cleared over 
$1,500 on my 80 acres this" year, and expect to double that next year. 

I find the people here geneVous and hospitable, and ready to give advice and 
assistance to any decent person who settles among them. The labor here is negro 
labor, principally. They are a happy and contented people, under fine control, and 
when properly looked after do excellent work. I have not known of a tragedy since 
I have been here, and consider this one of the finest countries I ever knew. I could 
not be induced to go back to Indiana to live. The health of the country is all that 
could be desired. I find absolutely no malaria here. The lands are fertile and well 
drained, and are worth more than double the price asked for them. 

Stock raising is proving very profitable here, the native grasses furnishing excel- 
lent grazing for all kinds of stock. I find many herds of fine graded cattle here. 
Very little feeding is necessary, as the winters are very mild, stock only having to 
be fed in February and March, and many of them are never fed at all. 

I have made lots of warm friends since coming here, and find these people equal 
in culture and refinement to any people on earth. Canton is a delightful little city 
of 4,000 people, with a fine system of waterworks and electric lights, ice factory, 
planing mill, box factory, brick factory, machine shops, bottling works, etc. The 
planters in Madison county raise about 30,000 bales of cotton, which is bringing this 
year $50 per bale. They have two fine artesian wells in Canton, which flood 200,000 
gallons each of the very finest water, nineteen feet high, through a six-inch pipe. 
Farmers who get scarce of water come to town and get the water they want free. I 
advise anyone seeking investments to come to Madison county, Mississippi. 

Yours truly, W. B. Finny. 

Hammond, Louisiana, September 23, 1903. 
Capt. J. F. Merry, Dubuque, Iowa. 

Dear Sir: I have just received your verbal request, asking me as to my expe- 
rience in this country, and I am glad to say to you what I can. We have a fine 
country and only need more good actual settlers to take advantage of the opportunity 
it affords. 

I came from Nebraska to Hammond in 1893, principally for my health, which 
is greatly improved, and I am now truly a well man. I am engaged in dairying, in 
which I am doing well, and beg to say that I can raise more milk than I can sell. 
With this interest growing and the railroad giving us better facilities, it will be the 
richest crop that we have. I raise a good crop of forage and always have some crops 
growing. Corn and oats do very well. 

This is the best country I know of for stock. The grasses grown are excellent 
and pasturage is always good. Our cattle will always sell and command most excel- 
lent prices. Our climate is fine and we have about two months of cold weather. 
This is a country in which excellent water abounds. Yours truly, 

M. R. Dunn. 

Amite, Louisiana, September 24, 1903. 
Capt. J. F. Merry, A. G. P. A., I. C. R. R., Dubuque, Iowa. 

Dear Sir : I came to Louisiana from Adams county, Pennsylvania, and located 
near Amite nine years ago and bought 58 acres. Have had very good luck with my 



Information for Home Seekers and Investors 



51 



crops. I raise corn every year and make from 25 to 40 bushels per acre, and with 
the same crop I raise from half a ton to a ton of cow pea hay on the same ground. 
Before planting corn I raise a crop of Irish potatoes or cabbage, giving me three 
crops annually on the same land. Northern farmers can hardly understand this 
way of farming, but they should remember that we have no month of the year in 
which we cannot grow something. My crop of cabbages or Irish potatoes grown 
on the corn ground I market usually in May, and plant corn as soon as the potatoes 
are harvested, shipping nearly all of it to Qiicago, and get, one year with another. 
$100 per acre. I also grow asparagus and find it a profitable crop. 

I have had very little sickness. I work in the field the same as I did in Pennsyl- 
vania, taking only an hour. for nooning. My income from the 58 acres ranges from 
$1,500 to $2,500 per year. Wild land, say three to five miles from a station, is worth 
from $ro to $15 per acre. Northern farmers need not hesitate to locate in this 
vicinity, but to succeed they must work and economize the same as in the North. 

S. E. Hostetter. 

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, September 25, 1903. 
Capt. J. F. Merry, A. G. P. A., I. C. R. R., Dubuque, Iowa. 

Dear Sir: Being informed that you would like to learn the experience of 
Northern men located in Louisiana, I give my views on the situation. 

I came here from McLean county, Illinois, in 1896. I have been treated very 
well by the people. I think they are not only willing but anxious for Northern 
people to come here to establish homes, and am sure all such will be heartily wel- 
comed. I have farmed all the time I have lived in the state, but am not now living 
on the farm, having moved to town to send my sons to the university. I have 
enjoyed the best of health since coming South. I have had some sickness in my 
family, but none that I think due to climate. 

I have produced eighty bushels of corn per acre, and I think fifty bushels of 




Dairy and Vegetable Farm of C. H. Hummel, Hammond, Louisiana, 
Formerly of Nortonville, Kansas. 



52 Information for Home Seekers and Investors 

oats, but they were not threshed, but fed in the sheaf; have made two tons of hay 
per acre — Japan clover. Alfalfa does fine on our alluvial lands and can be cut from 
five to seven times in one season. Our alluvial lands are adapted to the raising of 
cotton, cane, rice, corn, alfalfa, oats, Bermuda grass and white clover, as well as all 
kinds of garden truck. I own 4,000 acres of land in East Baton Rouge and Point 
Coupee Parishes. I think I have fully doubled my property since coming South 
seven years ago ; am pleasantly situated ; have better health than I had in Illinois, 
so that I can truthfully say I am more than satisfied. I think we have here in 
Louisiana, besides the producing capacity, market facilities, healthfulness and cli- 
matic conditions, the cheapest lands in the United States. We have no hot nights 
and no days as hot as I have seen in Illinois. Our summers are longer and of higher 
daily temperature, but there is no such extreme heat as I have felt in Illinois. Sun- 
stroke is unknown here. I suppose our cooler nights and freedom from sunstroke 
are due to the breeze from the Gulf. 

I hope the Illinois Central road will be able to send a number of sturdy farmers 
to fill up the fertile places in Louisiana. Respectfully, 

D. S. DOOLEY. 

Greenfield, Tennessee^ September 23, 1903. 
Capt. J. F. Merry, A. G. P. A., I. C. R. R., Dubuque, Iowa. 

My Dear Sir : I cheerfully reply to your request for a statement of my expe- 
rience in this Southern country. I 'came here thirteen years ago from Yankton, 
South Dakota. Had formerly lived in Berrien county, Michigan. Finding the cli- 
mate in Dakota too severe to suit me I decided to try Tennessee. I wanted to raise 
fruit so I purchased but forty-five acres of land. Some tried to discourage me but I 
moved forward and soon had a nice orchard of peaches, pears, grapes and apples. 
The country is well adapted to fruit raising. I have never missed a crop and have 
profited financially beyond my expectations. 

While I have given most of my time and attention to fruit culture, it is not the 
only crop of this country. The mild winters make it a desirable place for stock 
raising. The soil and climate are suited to corn, winter wheat and oats. Corn yields 
from thirty to fifty bushels per acre and winter wheat from ten to forty bushels 
Oats from fifteen to sixty. Corn planted as late as June will get ripe before frost. 
Cow peas are another important crop. They yield about twenty bushels per acre 
and sell from $1 to $1.50 per bushel. It makes excellent hay, besides being a great 
fertilizer for the land. Timothy, red-top and clover grow here to perfection. They 
make from one to three tons of hay per acre, which sells from $10 to $20 per ton. 
We can raise two crops in one season from the same land here and at the same time 
improve the soil. We can cut our wheat and plant peas, corn, or potatoes and get a 
good crop. 

Trucking is a growing industry here now. All vegetables do well in this climate 
and soil. We ship beans, peas, asparagus, tomatoes and cantaloupes from here by 
the carload. About the middle of May of this year we shipped from Greenfield in 
one day fifteen carloads of strawberries. Our shipping facilities are excellent. 
Greenfield is a town of about 2,000 inhabitants and is on the Illinois Central midway 
between Chicago and New Orleans. We have excellent church and school privileges. 
In some parts of the South colored people form a large per cent of the laborers, 
but it is not so here. White people cultivate the soil. As a whole this country is 
a delightful place for a home, and I will take pleasure at any time to answer any 
inquiry that might be made of me. Yours respectfully, 

John Reder. 

Canton, Mississippi, September 22, 1903. 
Capt. J. F. Merry, A. G. P. A., I. C. R. R., Dubuque, Iowa. 

Dear Sir: I came to Madison county, Mississippi, from Sullivan county, 
Indiana, in 1890 and bought a 560-acre farm one-half mile southeast of Canton, for 



Information for Home Seekers and Investors 



53 




Residence, Ridgeland, Mississippi 



which I paid $22.50 per acre, and was told by many people here that I paid too 
inuch. This farm was neglected and run down ; I have, with my limited means, 
gradnaily built it up, repaired and added to my dwelling, built a nice barn and have 
good fences around the entire farm. I could easily sell my farm for $35 per acre to 
native citizens here. I have given my attention principally to live stock and hay. My 
farm is level and as pretty and fertile as any Illinois prairie farm. I raise my own 
grain and can make thirty-five bushels of oats, forty to fifty bushels of corn and one 
ton of fine hay per acre. I readily get $10 per ton for hay in the Canton market, 
giving me a net profit of $7 per acre for my land. I have a fine herd of grade 
Galloway cattle, which cost me absolutely nothing, as I only feed them a little hay in 
I"ebruary and March ; during the balance of the season they keep fat on pasturage. 
I have on hand now twenty-four grade calves, six months old, that will net me $15 
per head; they \Ki\\ average 350 pounds each and have cost m^ nothing except 
pasturage. 

I consider investments in land in Madison county, Mississippi, to be the best 
in the world, at the prevailing prices — from $10 to $15 per acre, according to location 
and improvements. Cotton, corn, oats, hay, sweet potatoes, fruits and berries all 
pay handsomely. As to the health of the country, I can truthfully say I believe 
this to be the healthiest country I ever knew. I have no doctor's bills to pay, and 
the climat". is all that could be asked. There has not been a night the past summer 
when one could not sleep comfortably under light covering. My farm is not for 
sale, at any price. I am delighted with the country and its people and could not be 
induced to return to Indiana. I am sending photos of part of my herd of cattle, 
which will compare faA'orably with any graded herd in the whole state of Indiana. 
You can say to the people of the North and West that this is the country for invest- 
ments. Land that can be bought for $15 per acre will readily bring $5 per acre 
rent. These people know how to handle the negro laborers, who, with a little watch- 
ing, aVc the best laborers in the world. We have no trouble with them in this coun- 
trj . They are the happiest and best contented people in the world. There is no such 
thing as social equality in this country. The negroes are well treated, take no inter- 



54 



Information for Home Seekers and Investors 



est in politics, and are contented with their mission in life as laborers. I would be 
pleased to furnish you with anj^ further information you may desire. 

Yours very truly, Jacob Billman. 

Hammond, Louisiana, September 28, 1903. 
Capt. J. F. Merry, Dubuque, Iowa. 

This is to certify that I spent several years as a resident of Peoria county, Illi- 
nois, engaged in farming and dairying, selling my milk while there to a cheese 
factory. Nine years ago this fall we moved to Hammond, Louisiana, where I have 
been engaged in gardening, fruit culture and dairying, receiving reasonable com- 
pensation for my efforts. Our climate is second to none. An artesian well is easily 
secured at a very nominal figure, producing the purest of water. I have a two-inch 
well flowing 45 gallons per minute, cost of well, complete, $I73- We like it here; 
the North has lost its attractions. Yours very respectfully, 

C. H. Hummel. 

Jackson, Mississippi, September 29, 1903. 
Capt. J. F. Merry, Dubuque, Iowa. 

Dear Sir : I am formerly of Lawrenceville, Illinois. I bought 424 acres of land 
near Jackson in 1897, and the more I stay here the better I like it. We raise one 
bale of cotton to the acre on the creek bottom land, and from thirty to fifty bushels 
of corn to the acre, and from one and one-half to two tons of pea hay to the acre. 
I set out my hill land in peach trees ; I first set out 1,200 trees and they looked so 
well that I set out 3,000 more and they paid me from $90 to $150 per acre, so last 
winter I set out 16,000 more peach trees and purchased 400 acres more land near 
me. I have been in almost every state in the Union, including California, and I 
consider Mississippi the best for a man of moderate circumstances to locate in. 

Miles W. Curry. 

Boyle, Mississippi, September 30, 1903. 
Capt. J. F. Merry, Dubuque, Iowa. 

Dear Sir : Replying to your letter, I am pleased to give what information I 
can concerning the Mississippi Delta, its opportunities and its prospects. To me it 




Aberdeen Angus Cattle, Covington, Tennessee. 



Information for Home Seekers and Investors 55 



Jersey Herd Near Covington, Tennessee. 

is an unsolved mystery why thousands of farmers leave the protection of "Old 
Glory" to settle in a foreign country, in the frigid Northwest, when at best they 
can hope for but a few v>eeks of immunity from "Jack Frost" ; when right here in 
our own beloved United States — the best government God ever permitted to exist — 
is a land rivaling the famous valley of the Nile in fertility, in genial climate and 
congenial people, where land can be had nearly or quite as cheap as in the North- 
west, where much of the land is valuable principally "to sell." 

I came here from Humboldt county, Iowa, about January i, 1897, and bought 
320 acres. My means being limited, I cleared up only about 40 acres the first year. 

In the early spring of 1897 the mighty "Father of Waters" broke through the 
confining levees, and we were in the midst of what the sympathetic newspapers 
termed "a terrible inundation," and a great deal of sympathy was wasted on us. 
No more mistaken ideas ever existed than tliose of a Mississippi overflow. I had 
five days' time in which to prepare — that is, I was warned five days before the water 
reached my place that the levee had broken. The water does not rush upon one 
like a Johnstown flood, except immediately in front of the crevasse in the levee. 
I took my stock to a place of safety — a ridge which never overflows, and there are 
many such ridges, and I moved my family upstairs, where we were perfectly safe. 
A couple of hands and myself occupied our time by floating ofif logs from my field, 
and it was the cheapest log-rolling I ever did. Aside from a few hens, I lost no 
stock, and no human lives were lost anywhere around here. Inconvenient? Yes; 
so is a blizzard in the Northwest, and far more dangerous. The flood subsided in 
ample time to plant our crops. In fact, we raised the biggest crop in years. The 
"oldest inhabitant" does not remember the time when an overflow prevented a crop. 
The levees are now much higher, stronger and broader than in 1897, and the prospect 
of another overflow is very remote indeed. 

I have continued to clear some land each year. I now have about 225 acres in 
cultivation, which I rent for $6 per acre per annum. This rental will seem to 
many people incredible, but when it is considered that the average value of the cotton 
crop on my plantation this year, notwithstanding a rather .short crop, is in excess 
of $40 per acre, it will be seen that the rental is not at all out of reason. Thus I 
enjoy a comfortable income from my plantation and have my time free to follow 
other pursuits. Let me say that no other part of the Union affords such oppor- 
tunities for merchandising, investment and speculation. Improved property can be 
bought so that the rental will produce from 10 to 20 per cent on the investment. 

The health of my family has been very good. My wife has enjoyed better health 
than in Iowa, as her lungs were not strong enough to withstand the rigorous Iowa 
winters. 



56 Information for Home Seekers and Investors 

While I seem to have made some extravagant assertions, I believe I can prove 
to your satisfaction the truth of what I say. Very truly yours, 

E. C. French. 

DuRANT, Mississippi, September 28, 1902. 
Capt. J. F. JNIerry, Dubuque, Iowa. 

Dear Sir: You ask me about my Southern experience. December of last year 
I bought of, or rather through, W. O. Glines & Co., agents of Durant, Miss., the 
famous, Linden plantation of 2,520 acres, located on Honey Island, in the Yazoo- 
Mississippi Delta, Mississippi, about one-half of which is in cultivation and the 
remainder a magnificent growth of hardwood timber. The soil through this entire 
section is a black, alluvial loam, every acre of which is as rich and fertile as the far- 
famed valley of the Nile. The natural yield of this land is not surpassed on the 
continent. No fertilizers are ever needed, the land can be worked at almost any 
time during the year, the soil is so deep that the deepest tillage does not reach half 
through the top, and its absorptive power insures a crop from injury through any 
drouth. Every variety of crops raised in the North can be grown to perfection 
on this plantation, the yield in every case being phenomenal. While our best ground 
in the North is worth from $70 to $100 per acre, this best Southern Delta improved 
land can be bought at this time at one-third these prices, and pay an income, per 
acre, three times that of our Northern lands. I am well pleased with my Southern 
investment. We will pick about 700 bales of cotton and crib about 8,000 bushels of 
corn, besides about 300 tons of hay now in mow for feed. For this first year I 
consider this good enough. 




Truck and Dairy Farm Near Amite, Louisiana. 

All that this country needs to bring the price of land to $100 per acre is a little 
more Northern enterprise and capital. This is rapidly coming, and before five more 
years have passed I expect to see this price realized. Very respectfully, 

O. H. Trook. 

Covington, Tennessee, October i, 1903. 
Mr. J. F. Merry, A. G. P. A., I. C. R. R., Dubuque, Iowa. 

Dear Sir: I can sincerely and enthusiastically recommend Tipton county, Ten- 
nessee, to enterprising homeseekers. I came here five years ago from my native 
place in McLean county, Illinois, with my family. I have had good health and 
prospered. I brought a herd of Aberdeen Angus cattle and my horses with me, and 
they have done well. I enclose picture of some of my stock. I bought 45 acres near 
the county seat, Covington, for $1,500, for a home. I paid $2,500 this year for 39 
acres of similar land adjoining me, at a bargain. 



Information for Home Seekers and Investors 57 

I am making money. The climate and soil enable me to make far more on this 
land than I could on the same amount of land in Illinois. I can raise two crops of 
potatoes on the same land each year, and from 100 to 200 bushels per acre. I have 
eight acres in second crop potatoes now. We can raise a good wheat crop or oat 
crop and then a fine hay crop on same land each year. Corn produces from 30 to 
60 bushels, wheat 10 to 38 bushels, and oats 25 to 70 bushels per acre. Clover, tim- 
othy and grasses do well here. 




Cabbage Farm, Roseland, Louisiana. 

E. W. Smith last week gathered his corn, and after weighing thirteen of his 
one hundred young hogs, eight months old, put them on the peas in the field, and 
within ten days they had gained $40. All kinds of stock do well here, even when 
brought from other states. So does poultry. The many springs, running streams 
and shallow wells add much to the matter of stock raising. Berries and vegetables 
can be raised here with great profit. A farmer three years ago received $1,500 from 
a second crop of potatoes on 12 acres and paid for 100 acres with it. Bermuda grass 
will sustain and keep fat from three to five head of cattle per acre for si.x months 
in the year. 

The Illinois Central furnishes the finest passenger and market facilities. Good 
farms can be bought, according to location, at from $10 to $50 per acre, which will 
bring twice the results as the same amount of land further north. I have made $4 
per month at the creamery on each of my cows, besides raising the calves. If the 
farmers of Illinois and Iowa realize the advantages here, this country will soon have 
125 inhabitants per square mile instead of 67. Many enterprising farmers are here 
now from these and other states. Society and schools are good. 

Respectfully, Frank H. Dickinson. 

Hammond Louisiana, September 13, 1903. 
Capt. J. F. Merry, Dubuque, Iowa. 

Dear Sir: I came here in 1895 from Siou.x City, Iowa, principally on account 
of the climate, which has relieved me almost entirely of my catarrhal troubles. 

This is a fine country for the up-to-date farmer. With proper attention the 
land can be made to bring forth almost one continuous round of crops, such as oats, 
corn, potatoes, cane and hay, and especially all kinds of vegetables and small fruits 

It is a great dairying country and is developing wonderfully. With the fine 
flowing wells furnishing pure, cool water in great abundance, no finer country 
could be asked for, as we have fresh pasturage all the year around, keeping the stock 



58 Information for Home Seekers and Investors 

in good condition. Everything is being done to bring the dairying interest to the 
front. It is now, comparatively speaking, in view of the present outlook, in its 
infancy. 

While speaking of the industries which interest mankind from a financial point 
of view, let us not forget some items which are pleasing to the eye as we rest in our 
hammock beneath the shade of these beautiful umbrella China trees. With humming 
and mocking birds flitting amid the flowering vines, among the roses, violets, 
jasmines and azaleas and many ornamental shrubs which you of the North have to 
depend upon the greenhouse to supply, we may rest from our labors. We are well 
satisfied with this country and think those now settled here will join in saying 
Hammond is all right. Respectfully yours, 

Hugh Walsh. 

DuRANT, Mississippi, September 29, 1903. 
Mr. J. F. Merry, A. G. P .A., Illinois Central Railway Co., Debuque, Iowa. 

Dear Sir : I served my apprenticeship in the Rogers Locomotive Machine Works 
at Paterson, N. J., and followed railroading for 27 years. When I concluded I was 
too old to railroad any more, I concluded I would try farming. I state this to show 
that I am not a practical farmer. 

On the first of January, 1902, I bought of W. O. Glines & Co. a farm of 305 
acres, three miles south of Durant, which had a few strawberries on it. I netted the 
first year $166.87 per acre from my berries. I now have six acres of nice berries 
growing, ready for next year. Good corn crop — have just housed five acres of the 
poorest corn I have for present use, which gave me 90 bushels, without fertilizer and 
with very little work. 

I had a patch of about one and one-half acres in cantaloupe melons, and netted 
$102 oflf of the one and one-half acres. I have a fine cotton crop that will make 
me from one-half to three-quarters of a bale per acre. I find labor cheap and plenty 
of it. I pay from 50 to 75 cents per day for good labor, and they board themselves. 
I believe that every man who has any energy at all about him can do well here. 
Have not had a physician in my house, except on a social visit, since I have been 
here. We are all enjoying the best of health and a good appetite. 

Very truly, A. Brower. 

P. S. I failed to state that after selling my crop of melons, I cut a ton and a 
half of good hay the same fall. 

Riverside, Mississippi, September 25, 1903. 
Capt. J. F. Merry, Dubuque, Iowa. 

Dear Sir : Replying to your request of a few days since, I beg to state I came 
to Mississippi from Missouri a few years since. I purchased 1,185 acres, of which 
I have opened 350 acres. Last year my rentals on the part devoted to cotton netted 
me $13.50 per acre over all expense. I produced forty bushels of corn per acre, 
with but little attention given to it. I have merchantable timber on the unopened 
part of my land sufficient to pay the cost of it. The Yazoo & Mississippi Valley 
Railroad, just completed one-fourth of a mile from my land, gives splendid service 
and has raised the value of my lands one hundred per cent in one year. This is true 
of all other lands near this line. 

I raise stock at a cost so low it is hardly felt, as the green grass and cane afford 
fine pasturage all the year round. Our health is excellent. A very large percentage 
of the lands in this, Quitman county, is already in the hands of Northern people, 
and the work of removing the valuable timber and opening the lands is going for- 
ward with a rush. Land prices are advancing rapidly. Many fortunes have been 
made here in the last two years by Northern investors ; all of them are located per- 
manently and all are entirely contented and prosperous. Yours truly, 

W. T. Jamison. 



Information for Home Seekers and Investors 59 

RiDGELAND, MISSISSIPPI, September 30, 1903. 
Capt. J. F. MerrYj Dubuque, Iowa. 

Dear Sir : We have an 8o-acre tract of branch-bottom meadow land that cost 
us $17 per acre all under fence. Last year we pastured 90 head of cattle on this 
tract most of the time. Took them off November 15. This year early in June we 
mowed over the entire tract, principally to clear out the weeds. We are now finish- 
ing our second cutting of hay. A careful estimate of the two crops will be about 
120 tons. We have already sold a good deal of the hay at $10 per ton, in bulk. We 
have a bid of $10 per ton, baled f. o. b. cars here for the balance. 

The expense, I estimate f. o. b. cars, is $3.60 per ton. This includes the labor 
for mowing, pressing and hauling. This will leave us a net profit of $768, being 
more than half of the purchase price for land for the one crop. 

Off of 40 acres of peavine hay sown in July in our young peach orchards, we 
have cut and matured over 30 tons of the finest hay that is made. Have bargained 
to sell it in Jackson for $14 per ton baled. This will net us about $10 per ton, besides 
the nitrogen furnished to the orchards, which was the prime reason for sowing in 
the orchards. These hay crops are not large yields. We have done much better 
other years. It merely shows that there is a good profit in raising hay for the market 
in this section of Mississippi. Yours truly, 

C. B. Thompson. 




Tomato Farm, Roseland, Louisiana. 

Ridgeland, Mississippi, September 30, 1903. 
Capt. J. F. Merry, Dubuque, Iowa. 

Dear Sir : After living in Jackson a few years, I moved to Madison county in 
1897 and bought a farm two miles east of Ridgeland of 734 acres, about 200 acres 
of switch cane bottom and the balance rolling hill land. About 400 acres of the 
land was cleared. The place cost me $6,000. Some of the land I considered very 
poor, but I have made it rich. 

I went into buying and raising stock and general farming. I have made over 
$20,000 in my stock business during the past six years. I have three Hereford bulls, 
one Durham and one Devon — all thoroughbred, and expect to buy two Polled-Angus 
bulls this fall. I have several Red Polled cow^s, altogether about 100 head of high 
grade. I have at the present time $1,500 invested in cattle alone, including about 40 
head of four-year-old steers that will average 1,600 pounds each. I am thoroughly 
convinced that I can make more money in the cattle business than any man can 
make North with the same amount of capital invested. 



6o Information for Home Seekers and Investors 

I have 400 head of hogs and 40 head of horses and mules. I have raised seventy- 
five bushels of corn to the acre and can raise fifty any year on good land, and believe 
I could raise one hundred bushels if the season was good, with special attention. 
I have also made good money in raising hogs and am thoroughly convinced that I 
can make more money in raising mules and horses than I can in raising cotton. The 
natural grasses here beat the world for hay. Three years ago I built my residence 
and have made $12,000 worth of other improvements since I came here. 

I have run my stockers in switch-cane all winter without feed but advise some 
winter feeding. My summer grazing is principally Bermuda grass, and I consider 
there is nothing better for cattle and hogs. I finish my cattle in sixty days on cot- 
ton seed meal and hulls at a cost of ten cents per day per head. I can make more 
hay here per acre than can be made in Illinois or Iowa on the best land they have. 
I sell a great many of my beef cattle to local butchers and always get a better price 
than I do in St. Louis or- New Orleans. I am well satisfied with what I have done, 
although I am sure I could have done better if I had had the experience that I 
now have. 

Lands are cheap here, and all a man needs to make a success is some capital 
and some push, and then push it. We have a good community of Northern farmers 
already started. My neighbors have all done well. Some of them raise more fruit 
than stock. 

We will all be glad to show our Northern friends what we have done and are 
doing. I remain, Yours very truly, 

J. F. Johnson. 

DuRANT, Mississippi, October 3, 1903. 
Mr. J. F. Merry, Dubuque, Iowa. 

Dear Sir : I traded some Illinois land, town property and a small stock of goods 
for a track of 875 acres of land, three miles from here. Five years ago the land in 
cultivation made four bales of cotton and but little corn. This year the same land 
will make 50 bales of cotton and more corn than the place can use. Last year I 
bought a small place joining mine that produced 7 bales of cotton. This year it 
will produce 26 or 27 bales. The increase in both places is due to clearing up the 
fields that had grown up to briers, and draining the wet places. I have since added 
660 acres of land that produces 65 to 70 bales of cotton. I am operating a small 
saw mill in the timber portion of the land and find it profitable. Money here is easy 




Residence Near Canton, Mississippi, Showing Short-horn Cattle. 



Information for Home Seekers and Investors 



6i 




Residence Near Jackson, Mississippi. 



to obtain to operate on, and anybody can succeed here who will try. My land is 
located at the Aberdeen junction of the I. C. R. R., and is chiefly on big black bot- 
toms, but runs back into the hills on the west side. Pastures are better here than 
any place I have ever seen where native grasses are depended on. 

I came from Clinton, DeWitt county, Illinois, to this place. Myself and family 
have good health here, find the society good, and the climate pleasant, as there is 
always a breeze here, and am doing better than I could in any other place I know 
of. Lands have increased from $5 to $6 per acre to $15 to $25 since I came here. 
I can recommend the country to anybody wishing to locate in the South. I found 
truck farming profitable here, as one can clear from $200 to $500 per acre from 
beans, cucumbers, cantaloupes, squash and asparagus. Strawberries average from 
$300 to $900 per acre and are shipped from here in great quantities, from six to 
fifteen cars per day. Small places with strawberry patches have increased in value 
from $10 or $12 per acre to $50 to $100 per acre in the last five years. 

I traveled for ten years as a drummer through North, South, East and West and 
have never seen a place where all branches of business are as profitable and pleasant 
as here. 

Hoping my letter will encourage somebody wishing a home to investigate this 
location, I remain. Yours very truly, 

W. C. White. 



62 



Information for Home Seekers and Investors 




Residence, Roseland, Louisiana. 



Information for Home Seekers and Investors 63 



GENERAL INFORMATION. 

This pamphlet covers a variety of subjects, making it a reference book worthy, 
we trust, a place in every library. Applications for additional copies may be made to 
J. F. Merry, A. G. P. A., I. C. R. R., Dubuque, la., or the nearest of the following 
passenger representatives. Your home railroad ticket agent will advise you freely 
as to train time, ticket rates and the like to points on the Illinois Central and Yazoo 
& Mississippi Valley Railroads, or such information can be obtained of the nearest 
of the following passenger representatives of the Illinois Central Railroad: 

W. J. Bowes, Traveling Passenger Agent, Milwaukee, Wis. 
G. A. HiNES, Traveling Passenger Agent, Chicago, 111. 
W. R. Israel, Traveling Passenger Agent, Detroit, Mich. 
R. R. ChurchilLj Traveling Passenger Agent, St. Louis, Mo. 
R. H. Fowler, Traveling Passenger Agent, Louisville, Ky. 

E. A. RiCHTER, Passenger and Land Agent, Pittsburg, Pa. 
G. B. Wyllie, Traveling Passenger Agent, Buffalo, N. Y. 
W. J. McLean, New England Agent, Boston, Mass. 

F. W. Harlow, Division Passenger Agent, Louisville, Ky. 
Joseph Biggs, District Passenger Agent, Cincinnati, Ohio. 

G. A. Smith, Commercial Agent, Peoria, 111. 
Jas. Culton, Commercial Agent, Denver, Colo. 

J. A. Foley, Commercial Agent, Salt Lake City, Utah. 

J. Hunter Jones, Traveling Passenger Agent, Jackson, Miss. 

F. D. Miller, Traveling Passenger Agent, Atlanta, Ga. 

S. North, Traveling Passenger Agent, Freeport, 111. 

J. H. Jones, Passenger Agent, Cairo, 111. 

Geo. W. Schelke, City Passenger and Ticket Agent, Evansville, Ind. 

J. A. Wheeler, Traveling Passenger Agent, Waterloo, la. 

P. G. White, Traveling Passenger Agent, Cedar Rapids, la. 

F. S. Bishop, General Eastern Passenger Agent, New York, N. Y. 

C C. McCarty, Division Passenger Agent, St. Louis, Mo. 

A. J. McDouGALL, Division Passenger Agent, New Orleans, La. 
W. H. Brill, District Passenger Agent, Omaha, Neb. 
Clarence Haydock, Commercial Agent, Los Angeles, Cal. 

B. H. Trumbull, Commercial Agent, Portland, Ore. 
W. H. Snedaker, General Agent, San Francisco, Cal. 

A. H. HANSON, General Passenger Agent. 
C. A. KNISKERN, Ass't Gen'l Pass'r Agt. S. G. HATCH, Ass't Gen'l Pass'r Agt., 

CHICAGO, ILL. 

JOHN A. SCOTT, Assistant General Passenger Agent, Memphis, Tenn. 
J. F. MERRY, Assistant General Passenger Agent, Dubuque, Iowa. 



Cheap Farm Lands 

Located on the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R. 
in the famous 

YAZOO 
VALLEY 

OF Mississippi — Specially Adapted to the 
Raising of 

COTTON, CORN, CATTLE 
AND HOGS. 



Soil Richest in the World 



Write for Pamphlets and Maps. 

E. P. SKENE, Land Commissioner, 

Central Station, Park Row, Room 592, 
CHICAGO, ILL. 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL R. R. 




CENTflAL: 




EFFICIENTLY SERVES A VAST TERRITORY 

By through service to and 
from the following cities: 

OMAHA, NEB. CHICAGO, ILL. 
COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA ST. LOUIS, MO. 

ST. PAUL, MINN. PEORIA, ILL. 

MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. EVANSVILLE, IND. 

KANSAS CITY, MO. NASHVILLE, TENN. 

MEMPHIS, TENN. ATLANTA, GA. 

CINCINNATI, OHIO JACKSONVILLE, FLA. 

LOUISVILLE, KY. VICKSBURG, MISS. 

NEW ORLEANS, LA. BATON ROUGE, LA. 

Weekly through service between 
^ Chicago and between Cincinnati 

Connections at the above terminals for the 

EAST, SOUTH, WEST, NORTH. 



Fast and Handsomely Equipped Steam=Heated 
Trains — Dining Cars — Buffet=Library Cars — 
Sleeping Cars — Free Reclining Chair Cars. 



Particulars of agents of the Illinois Central and connecting lines, 
or by addressing 

A. H. HANSON, General Passenger Agent, Chicago. 



J. T. HARAHAN, 2d Vice-President. 
T. J. HUDSON, Traffic Manager. F. B. BOWES, Asst. Traffic Manager. 











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